Russia may not be strong enough to pose a serious threat to NATO members - expert

RIGA - At present, Russia is unlikely to be ready and strong enough to pose a serious threat to NATO members, the director of the Latvian National Defense Academy's Security and Strategic Research Center Toms Rostoks told LETA ahead of the NATO Summit in Madrid.

Although the Baltic states are expecting decisions to be made at the summit to strengthen the Alliance's eastern flank, the expert noted that, for example, the issue of increasing NATO's presence in the Baltic states is not a simple one.

On the one hand, there is a war going on in Europe, but on the other hand, Russia may not be seen as an immediate military threat to the Baltic states. According to Rostoks, this argument could be used by countries that do not want to increase NATO's presence in the region.

According to Rostoks, there may be differences of opinion between NATO countries about whether a permanent NATO force is needed on the ground in the Baltics, or the organization will continue to rely on the Alliance to move additional forces to the Baltic region quickly if needed.

It is currently unknown whether the presence of US troops in the Baltic States will be significantly increased. This is important because the United States is a military power and the deterrent effect could be greater.

"From the point of view of the Baltic States, it is important to increase NATO's presence in the region right now, because later such a decision will probably not be possible," he added.