Baltic and Polish Defense Ministers Agree on Joint Response to Deter Russia

Defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, Dec. 12, 2014On 11–12 December the Baltic and Polish Defence Ministers at a meeting in in Cesis (Latvia) agreed on joint response to deter Russia in the region.

“Baltic States and Poland are facing the same threats, therefore it is crucial to coordinate our response. Let us work with one accord so that Russia knows that its venture to put the principles of NATO collective defence to test might bring about heavy effect,” Minister J. Olekas said at the meeting.

Minister J. Olekas invited his counterparts to stay united in their efforts to implement the decisions of the Wales Summit emphasising the persistent NATO military presence in the region, establishment of NATO Command and Control Elements, and prepositioning of equipment and supplies in the Baltic States and Poland.

The Ministers agreed that the Wales’ decisions should be put into practice before the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016.

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Image: Defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, Dec. 12, 2014 (photo: Gatis Dieziņš/Latvian Ministry of Defense)