German chancellor Angela Merkel has said Nato will defend Baltic states if need be, but will not build permanent military bases in the region.
She spoke on Monday (18 August) on a visit to Riga in which she also laid a wreath at the Freedom Monument, a memorial to the Latvian War of Independence against Russia in 1918.
"I want to stress that ... Article V of the Nato contract - the duty to provide mutual support - is not something which just exists on paper, but is also something...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.