Baltic states hail a decade in Nato amid Ukraine crisis

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Saturday marked a decade since joining Nato just as rising concerns over Russia's territorial ambitions in eastern Europe have reinforced the importance of the Western military alliance. Two US fighter jets roared across sunny skies in Lithuania as President Dalia Grybauskaite hailed Nato membership as "vitally important" to Baltic security.
"Our expectations about Lithuania's security have been fulfilled. Nato partners have demonstrated that we do not face threats alone," she said.
The three Baltic countries of 6.3 million people were under Moscow's thumb before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Russian action against Ukraine has rattled nerves in the region.
"We would be a grey zone if we did not join Nato, that would be a danger," pensioner Antanas Spundys told AFP as he watched the fly-over.
Nato began an air policing mission over the Baltic states when the trio joined the alliance on March 29, 2004, in a move seen as a bulwark against unwanted Russian overtures. The United States sent six extra F-15 fighters to boost Baltic air patrols this month, bringing their total to 10 aircraft.
Washington also said it was considering rotating troops in the Baltic region, while Britain, France and Denmark also pledged more warplanes.
At ceremonies at the foot of the iconic Freedom Monument in Latvia's capital Riga, President Andris Berzins insisted on Saturday that "Latvia is now safer than it has ever been".
"If Nato had existed in 1940, history might be very different," student Arnis Adams told AFP, referring to the start of five-decade Soviet occupation during World War Two.
Meanwhile in Tallinn, Estonian defence minister Sven Mikser said Russian actions in Ukraine demonstrated that Nato countries are "much safer today" than those, like Ukraine, that are outside the alliance.
Wary of their powerful neighbour Russia, Lithuania and Latvia plan to double defence spending by 2020 up to Nato's recommended benchmark of 2.0 percent of GDP, having made cuts during recent periods of severe economic austerity. Estonia has said it will maintain its defence spending, which is already at 2.0 percent.