ABSTRACT
For the purpose of the present volume, it is reasonable to lump the individual foreign and European policies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into one chapter. Unlike the neighbouring Nordic countries, there has been no divergence in their strategic orientations or membership in alliances. The three Baltic states have shared a common destiny since the beginning of the Second World War. As independent states once again since 1991 their geopolitical situation has been identical as have their strategic priorities: distancing themselves from their former hegemon Russia and integrating as quickly as possible with the Euro-Atlantic pole, i.e. guaranteeing their security through membership of NATO and their well-being through membership in the European Union. As former parts of the Soviet Union, however, these states started to approach the Euro-Atlantic pole virtually from scratch. As distinct from Poland, for instance, it was by no means certain that future Euro-Atlantic enlargements would include the Baltic countries-quite to the contrary.
