FRONTLINE - Baltic Youth For Security

Brian Whitmore is a journalist and analyst specializing in Russian politics and foreign policy. He is the author of the Power Vertical blog and podcast, senior non-resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Whitmore frequently contributes to outlets like Foreign Policy and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 

During his early visit to Riga we had the opportunity to get his expert analysis on Russia’s political landscape and international relations, especially regarding the Baltic states and Latvia.

Looking at the European Parliament election results and discussing the importance of the youth vote. Young people in the EU show an overall growing interest in political and social issues that directly affect their future. Should centrist parties keep trying to adopt far right narratives on immigration at both national and EU levels, hoping to retain voters who might otherwise consider defecting to far right parties? Is the younger generation turning to the right for the indecisiveness of the ruling powers in Europe? Is populism to blame?

In this episode we explore the factors influencing the sense of safety among youth in the Baltic states.

Young people from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia discuss feeling safe in the Baltic states.

Starting from the perception of Russia as a threat during childhood, to youth engagement in politics after Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine and planning a secure future as a young person in the Baltic states.

The Three Seas Initiative  is a 12-country regional platform founded six years ago, located between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic seas. The platform, which was politically motivated but economically driven continues to work towards strengthening the so-called "smart connectivity" from North to South and back. By advancing the discussion about the necessity of addressing the shortcomings in the energy, transport, and digital connectivity challenges, the Three Seas initiative has demonstrated its potential as a mechanism for cooperation and investment that might continue to reduce the gap between Central and Eastern Europe in the future. 

Listen to the podcast produced by the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation where the Foreign Affairs Expert Mārtiņš Vargulis and  Ambassador at Large For Three Seas Initiative at the MFA of Latvia H.E. Edgars Bondars provide the informal follow-up to the discussions of the Riga Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, given these and other crucial topics. The Podcast will offer a brief history, the importance of the initiative for our region, lessons learned, platform pillars and ideas, as well as trends on external actors, and the potential contribution of Latvia. 

The interview is part of a series developed in the context of the annual Rīga Conferences organized by the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. The purpose of the series is to keep discussions alive in between consecutive conferences. 

The Transatlantic relationship has constantly been important to Europe and the US while going through turbulent waters encouraged by political shifts on a regular basis. Developments with regards to Afghanistan are a good illustration on how sensitive and occasionally unstable the relationship can be. The withdrawal out of Afghanistan did not exactly go according to initial plans. This will certainly have consequences for Europe and its allies in ways that will be costly even if no military troops are based in Afghanistan. What are the new geopolitical challenges that might arise? What is the role of smaller countries such as the Baltics in the larger geopolitical arena? Are Europe and the US ready and able to tackle emerging threats?

Listen to conversation between Sten Rynning, Professor, Danish Institute for Advanced Studies and Vice-Dean for Research, Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark and Sandis Šrāders, Board Member of Latvian Transatlantic Organisation. 

Burden sharing amongst NATO allies has high importance as it is a distribution of risks and costs towards achieving a common goal. The 2 % budget threshold is only one measure on how NATO members divide their responsibilities. How has burden sharing evolved amongst NATO members? How can the burden and risk sharing concepts be applied to NATO missions such as Afghanistan? How can burden sharing be improved?

Conversation between Louis Wierenga,  Junior Research Fellow in Comparative Politics at Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, Tartu University, and Eoin McNamara,
PhD Candidate, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu.

Listen to Daunis Auers, Professor of EU Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia and Ian Brzezinski Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council discuss "Three Seas Initiative".
“The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) is a Central European lead initiative to accelerate the development of cross- border transport, energy and infrastructure in the region between the three seas- Baltic, Black and Adriatic sea.” The goal of the initiative is about economic growth and development which is in turn an important check mark leading to common and regional security. How does 3SI fit in to EU policies and the goals set by the EU? Can 3SI bring Central Europe up to speed with Western Europe in terms of infrastructure and growth? What is the 3SI investment fund and what will it be used for? What can be expected from the 3SI 2022 summit in Riga?

The Chinese presence in Europe and in the Baltics increases year on year. Whereas the presence of Russia has historically been prominent in the Baltics. What kind of tools does China use to increase their influence in the Baltic region? Do Chinese and Russian interests overlap in the region which may lead to united approaches? 
Conversation between Shota Gvineria, Lecturer at Baltic Defence College, and Aleksandra Kuczynska-Zonik, Institute of Central Europe, Lublin and the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.