A New Arms Race in Eastern and Northern Europe

... in Northern and Central Europe from time to time and belligerent statements from Russia and the West increasingly growing in number. And Ukraine has at last provided the top military brass with an excellent chance to assert their importance. The mini-arms race in the Baltic was launched in April 2004 when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined NATO. As a matter of fact, the alliance was strengthened by the non-signees of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), which means they may any time deploy unlimited weapons as close as 200 kilometers from St. Petersburg. Of course, the Baltic politicians cited the threat from Russia. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/Pixstream Tatyana Parkhalina: NATO and Eastern Europe: ...