"We Have A Crazy Neighbor."

• 19.10.2025, 13:34

Russia's Baltic neighbors are preparing for a likely conflict.

Amid the war in Ukraine and rising tensions on NATO's eastern flank, the Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - are actively bolstering defenses, rebuilding shelter networks and preparing their populations for a potential conflict with Russia, NBC writes.

In Latvia's capital, Riga, green signs with the word "patvertne" - "shelter" - have appeared on dozens of buildings, indicating shelter in the event of an attack. The signs have come to symbolize the new alertness of a city that is keeping a close eye on its aggressive eastern neighbor.

Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds said his country is "on the front lines" and has already developed some resilience to the Kremlin's threat. He stressed that Latvia is actively developing drone initiatives and investing in defense together with NATO allies.

American diplomat Matthew Whitaker warned that a future conflict could start not with tanks but with cyberattacks on critical infrastructure:

"The first shot of the next war will not be tanks across the Suvalk Strait. It will be the destruction of airports or cyber strikes."

Admiral Rob Bauer, a former chairman of NATO's military committee, agreed that the war of the future will be different, while European Parliament President Roberta Metsola acknowledged that the West had "for too long ignored the Baltic warnings" about the Russian threat.

Latvia has already built a fence on its border with Russia, disconnected from the Russian power grid, demolished a Soviet memorial in Riga and renamed a street near the Russian embassy "Ukraine's Independence Street."

The former deputy mayor of Riga, Linda Ozola, said the city was rebuilding a shelter system, stockpiling food and developing a mobile app to quickly find shelters. She said the main goal is to be prepared for any eventuality:

"The truth is not good - we have a crazy neighbor who wants to destroy our country. And he's not even hiding it."