Senior Western officials on Thursday accused Russia of redrawing the map of Europe by force and posing a threat to the Baltic states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “real and present danger” to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and NATO was getting ready to repel any aggression, British Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon said.
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said a stronger NATO presence was needed on the alliance’s borders.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is very worrying for Baltic states,” Dombrovskis, a former prime minister of Latvia, said at an event in London.
“It shows that Russia is looking to redraw Europe’s 21st century borders by force, and it must be noted that Ukraine is not the first country to face Russia’s aggression,” he said.
Fallon, whose remarks were published as Britain scrambled jets to see off Russian Bear bombers, said Putin could launch a campaign of undercover tactics to try to destabilize the three former Soviet republics, all now members of NATO.
“I’m worried about Putin,” Fallon told the Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers, saying there was “a very real and present danger” Russia would adopt the same tactics it used to unsettle eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
“I’m worried about his pressure on the Baltics, the way he is testing NATO. NATO has to be ready for any kind of aggression from Russia whatever form it takes. NATO is getting ready,” he said.
Russia bridled at the remarks.
“The comments of Mr Fallon of course are already beyond diplomatic ethics and the characterization of Russia is completely intolerable,” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.
“We will find a way to respond to the comments,” he said.
Fallon’s intervention came as fighting raged in eastern Ukraine despite European efforts to resurrect a stillborn ceasefire, a day after pro-Russian separatists forced thousands of government troops out of a strategic town.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said Russia posed a threat to the wider region, including Moldova, which on Wednesday chose a pro-European businessman as prime minister.
“Russia is behaving aggressively now as we speak,” he told BBC radio. “
“I really do see threats to all countries... If we fail to react properly to what’s happening in Ukraine, there will be a big temptation [for Russia] to further instigate situations elsewhere,” he said.
Latvian Finance Minister Janis Reirs told Reuters his country had detected elements of “hybrid warfare” in the past year and was aware that Moscow could try to use the Baltics to destabilize Europe.
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