It’s Time for NATO to Help the Baltics

Russian hackers have launched cyberattacks against Lithuania for its enforcement of EU sanctions against Kaliningrad.

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A new flashpoint between NATO and Russia’s new expansionism flared up after Lithuania banned the transit of sanctioned goods from Russia to Kaliningrad, its exclave on the Baltic Sea, as part of the EU’s sanctions regime that took effect on June 17. Russia called Lithuania’s actions “hostile” and threatened “serious” consequences. 

Undeterred, Lithuania this weekend blocked an EU motion that would have nullified the restrictions. Vilnius said that the EU must not succumb to Russian pressure and compromise on its sanctions package.

NATO leaders meeting in Madrid this week should back up Lithuania’s move to put Russia on the defensive. As a larger strategy, NATO should follow Lithuania’s lead of pressuring Moscow and calling out Moscow’s empty threats. 

The Kremlin has already responded to Lithuania’s restrictions with information warfare and cyber subterfuge. On Monday, a Russian-speaking hacking group known as Killnet claimed responsibility for part of what Lithuania’s Defense Ministry calls an “intense, ongoing” cyberattack against government and private websites.

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  1. Avatar photo
    MatthewRobin

    Here is part 2 of my response to this article. Part 3 is coming out next week.

    https://infraredline.substack.com/p/from-human-tripwires-to-spiderwebs

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  2. Avatar photo
    J. Eric

    Very informative. This was totally off my radar . Thanks

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  3. BadgerBill

    On a trip to Estonia in 2017, we talked to several citizens about NATO. To person, they were glad to be a part of NATO and a single US aircraft flying over Estonian territory gave them a sense of comfort. With that said, they knew without support, they would be overrun in days. The Estonians surely think of themselves as citizens of Estonia, not a “quasi-state”.

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  4. Ben Bobbitt

    I thought we already moved some NATO rapid reaction forces to the Baltics. If we didn’t that’s seems dumb. We have to make sure Russia knows that if they invaded that the US and NATO would defend. If there aren’t any US troops there, he might think (not without some rational basis) that the US wouldn’t actually go to war to defend those nations, treaty or no. We should remove that doubt by ensuring that US forces would be involved immediately.

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  5. Brian Green

    Good article! I agree that NATO should beef up its presence in the Baltics. One small correction, though—I don’t think ”Kremlin spokeswoman” is the most accurate description for Dmitry Peskov.

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  6. Avatar photo
    MatthewRobin

    I began writing a response but, it was getting way too long so I will cover it in my weekly substack newsletter. In next week's edition of my Defense Debrief I will connect the Marines concept of Stand-In Forces, the "spider-web" defense, and my disagreements with the authors definition of "human tripwire".

    I'll make sure to link it here next week when its published.

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    1. Avatar photo
      MatthewRobin

      Apparently I had more to write than I thought. Here it is, part 1 of my response
      https://infraredline.substack.com/p/defense-debrief-from-human-tripwires

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