Patience is running out with Nato in the Baltic states

You can’t miss the vast banner emblazoned on the high-rise building overlooking central Vilnius. It reads: PUTIN, THE HAGUE IS WAITING FOR YOU. Not one to mince their words, the Lithuanians. And neither are the Latvians or Estonians. In the face of an increasingly menacing Kremlin, the Baltic states – on Nato’s front line against Russian aggression – display an in-your-face bravado, which nevertheless overlays a palpable unease about the future.

The threat posed to them by Russia was the issue which dominated much of the debate in the Baltic countries during the lead-up to the European Parliament elections. There was an emphasis on shoring up their borders against any potential incursions, as well as firming up the position of the European Union as a guarantor of the Baltic’s security.

My hotel in Vilnius, partially commandeered by the officers of a German army division stationed near the city, teemed with brawny men wearing Nato military camouflage uniforms.