The Baltic States have already injected their share of optimism in the European project. Now the turn has come for Ukraine to cure the Union with her magnanimity and optimism

The most important challenges are to lay genuinely strong and stable political foundations so that Ukraine never swerves away from its European course of reform regardless of any political uncertainties future elections may bring

The Ukrainian Week spoke with Raimonds Vejonis, the newly-elected President of the Republic of Latvia and Minister of Defense when this interview was made, about NATO revival, the "deterrent effect," Putin's unpredictability, and the cost of the conflict in Ukraine to Riga

Latvian Minister of Culture spoke to The Ukrainian Week about Russia’s war for the hearts and minds of young people, and ways for Latvia and Europe to resist it effectively

The first speaker of the Seimas of the independent Lithuania and EMP until recently on the way Europe is changing its perception of Russia, the shifting "center of Europeanness", and why it is crucial for Ukrainians to resist disenchantment

The Ukrainian Week spoke to Estonia’s Prime Minister about reforms, business environment they way Estonian investors see it in Ukraine, economic benefits of e-governance and international response to the Russian threat

NATO does not know how to deal with small, confusing challenges, so Russia unleashes them. If they go unpunished, they set a precedent

In his interview for The Ukrainian Week, Mr. Ilves draws parallels between transformations of the international order caused by Russia’s actions today and circumstances that encouraged the establishment of NATO and EU over 60 years ago, and between the presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil today and Soviet occupation of Estonia

One of the biggest crises the newly re-independent state of Estonia faced was an attempt to establish an autonomous region in its northeast part in 1993

Moscow’s approach, first to the Baltic countries and more recently to Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, shows that Russia doesn’t learn on its mistakes and will ‘loose’ those countries as it earlier ‘lost’ the Baltic States, says American analyst Paule Goble.

Estonians took radical action to get rid from the Soviet legal system and laid the foundation for the rule of law, with a clear separation of powers and an independent judiciary.

Why the Baltic States succeeded in defending their states in 1917-20 while Ukraine failed

20 August 1991 is the Estonian Re-Independence Day. Namely, on that day just a few minutes before midnight, the Supreme Council of Estonia declared Estonia independent and some days later the international recognitions began to pour in. The way Estonian independence was declared and what was written in the Supreme Council’s declaration continue to influence Estonian society today.

Despite the euro-zone crisis, euro membership gives Estonia more credibility and makes the country clearly visible among former republics of the USSR.

Estonia’s Ambassador to Ukraine Lauri Lepik talks about his country’s path to the European Union, the experience of integrating the Russian-speaking population and establishing business contacts with Kyiv

The status of Russian becomes the most acute problem in countries where Russian-speaking communities are large both in absolute and relative terms.

Seventy-five per cent of Latvian citizens rejected the initiative to grant Russian the status of a state language at a recent referendum, but this is unlikely to stop the politicisation of the “Russian issue” in this post-imperial territory

Lithuania was and continues to be unimaginable without its historically formed minorities and its precious voices.

Being small offers both negative and positive opportunities in international politics.

The states lying west of Russia could not avoid establishing a tight defense union but they failed to move beyond their own narrow national interests

French political analyst and geographer Michel Foucher talks about Ukraine’s Euro-integration chances, the advantages of the soft-power strategy, and Europe within its new borders