Baltic countries call for stronger NATO presence

The leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are asking NATO to strengthen its presence in the Baltics in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The three EU countries are all members of the Alliance. At the same time, they are also former Soviet states.

“We are not only asking for a permanent presence of NATO but also a new form of presence,” Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said after a meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte on Friday.

The three prime ministers also called for stricter sanctions against Russia, including a ban on Russian oil and gas imports.