ABSTRACT
The Baltic States follow the typical security and foreign policy strategies of small countries. They have made a clear choice to pursue a defensive alliance that acts as a counterweight to Russia. Broader security enhancement – as a shelter-seeking strategy – is ensured through EU membership. The Baltic States are quite good at expressing their major security interests with a common voice on the international stage, but they struggle in being cooperative and mutually supportive on soft issues where their national interests are at stake. Regional transport and energy cooperation best reveal the obstacles and mistrust among the Baltic leaders. Grybauskaitė did not succeed in establishing a warm interpersonal relationship with colleagues from Latvia and Estonia, and the tacit personal competition among presidents of the Baltic States symbolically resembled the political behaviour of the three countries.
