Baltic Security After Ten Years

Abstract

A number of events in 1992 proved to be of importance to the security of the Baltic Sea region. It was the first full year of independence of the Baltic States — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — and they also signed ‘first generation’ agreements with the European Communities in May 1992, beginning their increasing relationship with that organisation and its successor, established by the Treaty of Maastricht, the European Union (EU). It was this treaty, signed in 1992, that introduced the security element into the range of policies of the EU. It was also in 1992 that the three Baltic States declared their interest in joining NATO and that the then Secretary-General of NATO, Manfred Worner, underlined the vital interest of the alliance in the Baltic region. Finally, the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was established in 1992 and, though not directly interested in ‘hard security,’ dealt with a number of issues that affected in other ways the security of Baltic Sea states.