Baltic defence cooperation

History, political and geopolitical landscape, as well as desire to efficiently utilise available resources, have made political and military cooperation with Estonia and Lithuania one of the top priorities of Latvia’s national defence policy.

Baltic defence cooperation is critical for region’s security, stability and capacity to manage threats. Baltic countries maintain especially close and active political and expert-level dialogue between civil and military sector professionals, which are responsible for national security in all three countries, since Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014. This allows Baltics to present a common position in NATO and the EU, and other international cooperation frameworks.

Work is currently underway to establish the Baltic Defence Line in cooperation with Poland and Finland, based on the agreement reached at the meeting of the Committee of Defence Ministers of the Baltic States on 19 January 2024. The purpose of the Baltic Defence Line is to strengthen the eastern border of the Baltic States. The initiative involves the early planning and partial implementation of anti-mobile measures which, in the event of an invasion, would assist the armed forces of the Baltic States, as well as other NATO allied forces, to deter or block a potential aggressor state’s military invasion of the Baltic states as close to the border as possible.
 

Legal framework of Baltic defence cooperation

The new Baltic military cooperation framework signed on 29 January 2013 further specifies activities and responsibilities, procedures and setup of various military cooperation formats.

Baltic Council of Ministers adopted resolution calling for common Baltic security concept already in 1991 and, on 2 June 1992, Baltic defence ministers met in Pärnu (Estonia) to sign Memorandum of Understanding regarding security cooperation between defence ministries of the Baltic countries. Such cooperation fosters evolution of national defence agencies, promotes efficient development and use of capabilities, interoperability with allied forces. It also leads to more successful cooperation during peace-keeping and crisis management operations.

Cooperation formats

Baltic defence cooperation has various formats to ensure participation of all decision-making levels:

  • Policy Coordination Committee – comprised of defence ministry policy directors, committee meets ad hoc or when requested by the defence ministers’ committee to decide matters within its remit. Committee coordinates and facilitates strategic cooperation, prepares ministers’ committee meetings and monitors the implementation decisions adopted therein.

  • Defence Coordination Committee – comprised of line ministry and military experts, committee is responsible for execution of decision adopted by superiors and reporting to military and ministers’ committee.

  • Military Committee – comprised of commanders and staff officers of Baltic countries, committee has the highest military decision-making power. Committee implements decisions of defence ministers’ committee, assesses military aspects of joint projects, provides recommendations to ministers and guidelines to Defence Coordination Committee.

  • Defence Ministers‘ Committee – comprised of three Baltic defence ministers, committee provides political direction and makes key decisions regarding mutual military cooperation. Ministers from other allied or partner countries can be invited to committee meetings when appropriate. Extended meetings with Polish and Ukrainian defence ministers have already taken place.

On a practical level, cooperation leads to a number of key initiatives between all three Baltic countries:

Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian responsible authorities also regularly cooperate on various cybersecurity aspects. Cooperation takes shape as practical exchanges between Baltic CERT units, sharing of latest information about incidents, policy planning coordination between national cybersecurity experts.

The presidency operates on a rotational basis. Latvia will hold the presidency in 2026, Lithuania will take over in 2027, and Estonia will assume the presidency in 2028.

Other cooperation formats

As proposed by Germany, to ensure better training, logistics and information exchange, a special 3+3 format has been created between framework and host nations of Baltic NATO multinational brigade or Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, and Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Meetings between officials of various levels, including defence ministers, in this format take place regularly. The first ever 3+3 meeting took place in early 2023.  

Baltic cooperation formats are compatible with Nordic defence cooperation framework (NORDEFCO), which makes Nordic-Baltic cooperation easier. The main Nordic-Baltic cooperation format is Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8).

Established on 8 November 1991, Baltic Assembly – parliamentary cooperation body of Baltic countries – also plays important role in coordination of cooperation. Baltic Council of Ministers, created not long after, on 13 June 1994, completes the institutional framework for cooperation among Baltic states. To ensure efficient work of the Baltic Council of Ministers at the ministerial level, 10 committees of senior officials were created in 1994. By 2005, number of committees was reduced to five, and defence committee is one of them.

Military training

Joint military exercise is an important element of on-going cooperation. Training is delivered according to mutually-agreed plan and is aimed at boosting capabilities and use of collective resources. Baltic Host is annual host-country support training. Baltic Fortress, Baltic Squadex, Baltic Bikini are military exercises for navy. Baltic countries jointly participate in international training programs like navy exercise Open Spirit and BALTOPS. Naval forces of three Baltic countries, and when appropriate also air force units, take part in crisis management exercise Kristaps. NATO’s Ramstein Alloy is one of the key air force exercises conducted together with Sweden and Finland. Saber Strike air-land integration training, which is specifically-designed for geopolitical environment around Baltic countries, is another key exercise coordinated by US Allied Command Europe.

NATO centres of excellence

Baltic countries also cooperate within the framework of NATO centres of excellence that have been established to enhance NATO’s joint capabilities. Through these centres Baltic countries contribute to stronger Alliance overall. Estonia and Lithuania support NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence established in Latvia, while Latvia supports Energy Security Centre of Excellence in Lithuania  and Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in Estonia.