Threats to the Baltic States' Security Resulting from the Russian Federation’s Military Rivalry Against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Abstract

The aim of the research was to identify the threats created by the Russian Federation to the security of the Baltic States in the context of Russian military rivalry with the North Atlantic Treaty Or-ganization. The research problem was formulated in the form of the following question: Which threats to the security of the Baltic States are and may be created by the Russian Federation in the future and how do they correspond to the strategy of the Russian military rivalry? The article presents the essence of Rus-sian strategic rivalry with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the military sphere and explores the spectrum of threats to the security of the Baltic States as a result of Russian military rivalry with NATO. The conclusions of the research show that the military rivalry of the Russian Federation may result in a wide range of threats to territorial sovereignty and internal security in the security space of the Baltic States, thereby eroding the defence and deterrence capabilities of the NATO’s Eastern Flank. During the research process, the following research methods were applied: critical analysis and evaluation of litera-ture, conclusion, synthesis and the method of threat development forecast.