Estabilished in 2019, The Baltic Security Foundation (BSF) promotes the security and defense of the Baltic Sea region.

The Foundation is a result of the Baltic Security Strategy Project (2017-2019) that gathered experts on defence, societal security and economic security to assess the shared challenges for the Baltic States and recommend solutions.

BSF gathers Baltic experts and security experts from the region and beyond. It provides a platform for discussion and research, expert networking, expert mobility, and promotes finding and advocating for solutions that lead to a stronger regional security in military and other areas.

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Olevs

Olevs Nikers, President

Senior analyst at the Jamestown Foundation. Former chief expert at the Ministry of Defense of Latvia (2001-2019).

Otto

Otto Tabuns, Director

Foreign and security policy expert for 10 years. Co-host of the “Latvia Weekly” political news program.

Meet our team and experts!
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Our Recent Articles

Javelin Deliveries and the Prospects of Tank Warfare in the Baltics

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Javelin Deliveries and the Prospects of Tank Warfare in the Baltics

By Matthew Thomas on April 22, 2020

At the beginning of this month, the U.S. delivered 128 javelin anti-tank missiles to Estonia, part of ongoing cooperation between the two countries. This will provide another moderate boost to the credibility of Estonia’s deterrent posture. These kinds of smaller procurements are an important part of the broader effort to build up a credible defense in case of Russian aggression and to signal that the risk outweighs the reward for attacking the Baltic States.

The Three Seas Initiative

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The Three Seas Initiative

By Matthew Thomas on March 16, 2020

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States would commit up to $1 Billion in support for the Three Seas Initiative. In so doing, Congress and the administration are providing much needed assistance toward developing the economic and security infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe. This initiative, launched in 2015 by the Polish and Croatian presidents, aims to make Central Europe a “backbone of European resilience,” in the words of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

Interoperability at Sea: Sweden and Finland

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Interoperability at Sea: Sweden and Finland

By Matthew Thomas on March 12, 2020

Last week, Finland and Sweden conducted naval cooperation exercises in the Baltic Sea. Given that these two countries have a long tradition of close cooperation in military affairs, this seems fairly mundane. But these exercises were highly unusual, as Finland’s FNS Uusimaa took orders from Swedish naval command, and Sweden’s HMS Helsingborg received orders from Finland’s command center in Turku. This was the first time in the history of Finnish-Swedish naval cooperation that ships took orders from the opposite country’s command.

Defending the Suwałki Gap

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Defending the Suwałki Gap

By Matthew Thomas on February 27, 2020

At the end of last month, Lithuania and Poland announced that the two countries would each assign a brigade to NATO Headquarters in Poland to “train and act together” for the defense of the Suwałki Gap. According to the signed act of affiliation, Lithuania’s Iron Wolf Mechanized Brigade and Poland’s 15th Mechanized Brigade will train jointly to prepare for operations in the Gap, though they will remain under their own national command.