| Summary: | `titrebThe Baltic Security in Question `/titreb A decade after the collapse of the USSR, the establishment of a new type of security in the Baltic region, a strategic crossroads between several worlds, seems to be reaching completion. In the first phase, from 1991 to 1994, the separation of the ex-Soviet states took place in an atmosphere of tension, Moscow and the Baltic countries each harbouring a certain number of suspicions. The West mediated the withdrawal of the Russian military as well as a compromise on the thorny question of Estonian and Latvian citizenship, a problem affecting the status of the Russian populations in these countries. From 1994 to 2001, the Balts faced what they considered to be a security vacuum as their NATO candidacy was only supported by Denmark and Iceland. Finally in 2001, Russia’s rapprochement with the West became a major factor in regional security and the Balts no longer considered Russia to be a major threat, a period ending in May 2004 with Estonia and Latvia’s entry into NATO and the EU. Moreover, first steps have been taken towards resolving the delicate question of Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave in the Baltic, as Russia has dropped its military status and some facilities for passage to Russia via Lithuania or Poland have been set up. Even if they have unambiguously aligned themselves with American positions, the Baltic states have however been confronting new security risks : trends within military and nuclear sectors in the post-Soviet region, as well as political, economic and cultural differences within the chasm of the Baltic states and above all, the role played by its “new neighbors”. Une décennie après l’éclatement de l’URSS, l’instauration d’un nouveau type de sécurité dans la région baltique, qui constitue un carrefour stratégique entre plusieurs mondes, semble toucher à sa fin. Dans un premier temps, de 1991 à 1994, le divorce entre les Etats ex-soviétiques s’est fait dans un climat de tensions, Moscou et les pays baltes nourrissant mutuellement nombre de ...
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