Baltic countries distance themselves from China

By
Marcel Grzanna

The Baltic Sea is not only attractive for holidaymakers. Its lure also reaches governments whose members have other plans there than to spend a few days relaxing on the coast. For the People’s Republic of China, the geographical location of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on the north-eastern edge of the European Union offers an attractive route towards Arctic waters. In the future, global warming will transform the increasingly less icy Arctic Sea not only into a potential trade route, but also into a possible source of fossil fuels such as oil and gas. The Baltic Sea would be an ideal outpost for China’s ambitions in the Arctic.