by Alexander Welscher
A rural landscape of small remote farms, wide rolling fields, lush meadows and solitary forests. The countryside is beautiful and tranquil at the end of summer in this sparsely populated and densely forested area in southeastern Latvia near Zaborje. It is calm and quiet – the loudest noise is birdsong. No traffic disturbs the small country road lined with pine trees that leads to what is known as the “friendship mound” at the border with Russia and Belarus, until suddenly the way is blocked by anti-mobility barriers.
First come interlocking concrete blocks resembling giant Lego bricks, then metal hedgehogs and pyramid-shaped concrete obstacles called dragon’s teeth. At the end of the road there is a high metal fence reinforced with coils of razor wire. Beyond that again the two red and white barriers at the road over the Zilupe River that runs along the border can be seen. But there is no gate in the fence and the barriers will no longer go up. The friendship is over at this point where the Latvian, Russian and Belarussian borders meet. “Stop! State border” warns the orange sign in three languages placed next to the fence, not far from which an anti-tank ditch has been dug on the Latvian side.
It’s a similar sight at many other places along the eastern border of Latvia and in neighbouring Estonia and Lithuania – whose borders are also the EU’s external border. In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Baltic States have started to fortify their frontiers to deter Moscow from considering a potential military attack, supplementing existing or yet-to-be-built metal fences with obstacles and barriers based on historical precedents from previous wars in the region and inspired by current techniques used by Ukraine to fend off Russian attacks.
The measures are part of the strategic Baltic Defence Line, which aims to enable a rapid and effective response to an attack and create the conditions for a rapid deployment of mobilised forces. When it is complete, the line will stretch across large sections of the borders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – from the mouth of the River Narva in the East to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the West. The Baltic Defence Line is also being coordinated with Poland’s equivalent defensive line codenamed East Shield, to avoid leaving any gaps and to ensure a continuous front at NATO’s eastern flank against any potential Russian aggression. The total cost is estimated to stand at hundreds of millions of euros, with the Baltic States and Poland turning to Brussels to help fund the bill.
Readiness is Key
“The border as it is now looks fundamentally different compared to two years ago,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs noted during his visit to the “friendship mound” in late August, going on to say that more remains to be done, in terms of adding sensors and surveillance cameras to the fence, and to installing concrete obstacles and anti-tank barriers all along the 400 kilometre Latvian border with Russia and its authoritarian-ruled close ally Belarus, which hosts troops and nuclear weapons from Russia and made its territory available to Russian forces to invade northern Ukraine.
“Seeing what is happening in Ukraine, we must be ready for all scenarios, at least in the next few years,” Rinkēvičs emphasised to the media representatives accompanying him on his trip, adding that border security is the first line of defence, which must be strengthened every day – with people, technology and infrastructure. “The fence acts as a deterrent to some extent, but it is not a panacea – systems and border guards are needed,” the Latvian President said, standing at the “friendship mound” where security had been light for a long time.
Dressed in military uniform instead of his usual suit and protected by special military units, the Latvian head of state inspected how the infrastructure at the Eastern border is coming along and was briefed on plans for fences, concrete barriers and anti-tank obstacles together with Latvia’s Chief of Defence Kaspars Pudāns and Chief of the State Border Guard Guntis Pujāts. Rinkēvičs and his entourage were walking along the border and chatting with personnel who guard Latvia’s border with its aggressive neighbours and monitor what is happening over the border. Later on, the delegation also visited an engineering park in Zilupe where counter-mobility elements are stored before being erected on both state- and privately-owned land. Similar sites have also been set up in Estonia and Lithuania to house the various obstacles to be used in defence.
Closely coordinated construction
Plans to build the Baltic Defence Line were first announced at a meeting of the Baltic Ministers of Defence in January 2024, and work on the first ditches, bunkers and embankments started a few months after that. The protective installations are intended to slow down any potential land-based attack from the beginning to enable the armed forces to defend the country and its population from the very first centimetre, even though there is no imminent military threat at present. But readiness is key and peacetime is the best time to prepare such measures, as defence officials in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius point out.
Supporting NATO’s new forward defence concept and aligned with the alliance’s defence plans for the region, preparation also involves improving the civil protection system and the resilience of the population, not least because credible deterrence against Russia will depend not only on military power but also on social unity. Across the Baltics, governments are pushing the concept of total defence to mobilise the whole of society to defend against military and non-military threats. Measures include public information and training on how to deal with crises and war, as well as large-scale military exercises, the activation of reservists and the reintroduction of compulsory military service.
Hardening the border also involves instilling the civilian population with a sense of urgency about the security risks and threats they are confronted with at the country’s external border. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have closed several border crossings and strongly advise against all travel to Russia and Belarus, with officials warning of recruitment attempts by security services coercing travellers to conduct espionage activities. Unjustified detention, prosecution and even imprisonment may be possible, say the authorities, highlighting the “specific risks” that citizens have been exposed to when travelling to neighbouring countries.
“The terrain is our advantage”
In developing the defence line, the Baltic States are guided by the lessons of the war in Ukraine. However, the capabilities and geographical conditions of the three neighbouring states are also taken into account. “The terrain is our advantage – we decide where the fighting will take place in an emergency,” said Latvian military leader Kaspars Pudāns, highlighting that clearly visible fortifications and defensive structures are not just about stopping the invasion, but about shaping the battlefield and forcing the enemy to make predictable movements into areas where resistance and defence are easier. The military logic behind this is to delay, redirect and expose the attacking forces to make them easier targets and allow the defending side to dictate the terms of engagement.
While the execution differs in each Baltic State, the infrastructure is being expanded in a targeted manner – with a clear focus on border security and counter-mobility measures. The aim is to maximise deterrence, not least because of the exposed geographical location of the Baltics States on NATO’s eastern flank. Combined, they share a 1,360-kilometre border with Russia and Belarus The Baltic States’ only border with another EU member state runs through the so-called Suwalki Gap: a 70 kilometre-long, narrow strip of land along the Lithuanian-Polish border, sandwiched between Kaliningrad in the West and Belarus in the East. A theoretical Russian advance there could cut off the Baltics from the other NATO countries. Some media outlets have thus dubbed the hard-to-defend corridor “NATO’s Achilles heel” or even “the most dangerous place in the world”.
Several sections of Lithuania’s border with Russia have already been fortified. The country’s military has set up permanent counter-mobility measures and blocked the bridges linking it with Kaliningrad. Among them is the Queen Louise Bridge over the Neman River, where on the Russian side a Z sign – the symbol of the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine – is clearly visible on the front of a building facing Lithuania. Next to the bridges, additional barriers have been formed at places suitable for crossing the river. Engineering structures for securing explosive materials will also be built on the bridges to prepare them for easy demolition in accordance with military plans that were sketched out recently in a more ambitious series of layered fortifications.
On tour at the front line
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has visited the EU’s front-line states to reassure them of Europe’s solidarity and support against Russian aggression. The whirlwind four-day, seven-country tour of EU member countries bordering Russia and Belarus also took her to the Baltic States, where she discussed Europe’s security and defence spending with government leaders and military officials. The programme also included a helicopter flight over the Lithuanian-Belarussian border together with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
Speaking at a joint press conference at a Lithuanian border guard training centre in Medininkai, von der Leyen noted that Lithuania constantly faces military and hybrid threats, including the instrumentalisation of migrants and violations of its airspace by drones from Belarus. “I want to assure you that when Lithuania is tested, the whole of Europe is tested. We are with you in every way possible,” emphasised the head of the European Commission. “Europe fully stands with Lithuania as a front-line state.”
Von der Leyen indicated that the EU places great importance on border security, and that the next long-term EU budget has proposed a threefold increase in spending on migration management and border protection. “Europe’s borders are a shared responsibility. Lithuania’s border is Europe's border,” she said alongside Nausėda, who himself highlighted the joint efforts of the EU border countries: “The Baltic Defence Line and the East Shield are not only national initiatives. They are projects of common European interest.”
