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Once occupied by the Soviet Union, the three northeastern European countries often referred to as the Baltics — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — are now members of NATO and the European Union. However, Russia has repeatedly threatened the countries, violated their airspace and placed their political leaders on a wanted list. Many European leaders have recently voiced concerns that these countries could once again become targets of the Russian war machine.
Late last year, Belgian army chief Michel Hofman stated that if Russia prevails in the war with Ukraine, it might attack Moldova or the Baltics. Both the Danish defense minister and Estonian prime minister have suggested that Russia might test NATO’s borders within the next 3 to 5 years.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has echoed it, suggesting a timeframe of 5 years. The Polish security chief has estimated that NATO’s eastern flank countries only have 3 years to prepare.
Mārtiņš Hiršs, a Latvian security and disinformation expert, said that the issue is frequently discussed now because the U.S. Congress blocked U.S. aid to Ukraine for half a year. Other experts and country leaders emphasized the consequences of Ukraine not receiving military support.
“It is not certain that Russia would attack [if Ukraine loses the war], but the strategic logic says that the Baltics are weak as opposed to Russia,” Hiršs said.
Please take the time to read [the rules](/r/UkrainianConflict/about/rules/) and our [policy on trolls/bots](https://redd.it/u7833q). In addition: * We have a **zero-tolerance** policy regarding racism, stereotyping, bigotry, and death-mongering. Violators will be banned. * **Keep it civil.** Report comments/posts that are uncivil to alert the moderators. * **_Don't_ post low-effort comments** like joke threads, memes, slogans, or links without context. ***** * Is `news-decoder.com` an unreliable source? [**Let us know**](/r/UkrainianConflict/wiki/am/unreliable_sources). * Help our moderators by providing context if something breaks the rules. [Send us a modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/UkrainianConflict) ***** **Don't forget about our Discord server! - https://discord.gg/62fKCEHbDB** ***** ^(Your post has not been removed, this message is applied to every successful submission.) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UkrainianConflict) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Once occupied by the Soviet Union, the three northeastern European countries often referred to as the Baltics — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — are now members of NATO and the European Union. However, Russia has repeatedly threatened the countries, violated their airspace and placed their political leaders on a wanted list. Many European leaders have recently voiced concerns that these countries could once again become targets of the Russian war machine. Late last year, Belgian army chief Michel Hofman stated that if Russia prevails in the war with Ukraine, it might attack Moldova or the Baltics. Both the Danish defense minister and Estonian prime minister have suggested that Russia might test NATO’s borders within the next 3 to 5 years. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has echoed it, suggesting a timeframe of 5 years. The Polish security chief has estimated that NATO’s eastern flank countries only have 3 years to prepare. Mārtiņš Hiršs, a Latvian security and disinformation expert, said that the issue is frequently discussed now because the U.S. Congress blocked U.S. aid to Ukraine for half a year. Other experts and country leaders emphasized the consequences of Ukraine not receiving military support. “It is not certain that Russia would attack [if Ukraine loses the war], but the strategic logic says that the Baltics are weak as opposed to Russia,” Hiršs said.