NATO Ally Responds to Russia's Move to 'Adjust' Baltic Sea Border

Russia has launched a new "hybrid operation" in the Baltic Sea, according to European Union and NATO member Lithuania, after a Russian Defense Ministry document suggested an adjustment to the country's maritime claims in the area.

The draft decree, dated May 21, suggests Moscow wants to declare part of the waters in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and the area near the Kaliningrad towns of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk as internal waters.

"The state border of the Russian Federation at sea will change," a summary of the draft decree quoted by Reuters said. If approved, it added, the decree would come into force in January 2025.

The redrawn borders may affect the maritime zones of both Lithuania and Finland. A spokesperson for the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry told Newsweek that Moscow's actions "are seen as a deliberate, targeted, escalatory provocation to intimidate neighboring countries and their societies."

"This is further proof that Russia's aggressive and revisionist policy is a threat to the security of neighboring countries and Europe as a whole," the spokesperson added. "Lithuania today is summoning a representative of the Russian Federation for a full explanation. We are also coordinating our response with partners."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry by email to request comment.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, meanwhile, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Another Russian hybrid operation is underway, this time attempting to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about their intentions in the Baltic Sea. This is an obvious escalation against NATO and the EU, and must be met with an appropriately firm response."

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen likewise suggested in a post on X that Moscow may be trying to sow confusion and alarm in the Baltic region.

"It is worth remembering that causing confusion is also a hybrid influence," she said. "Finland is not confused."

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Helsinki is analyzing the reports, adding: "Russia has not been in contact with Finland on the matter. Finland acts as always: calmly and based on facts."

Top officials in Moscow have repeatedly threatened Finland, Sweden and the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Such threats have been twinned with suspected hybrid operations, including GPS interference and the weaponization of migrant flows across EU and NATO borders.

Zygimantas Pavilionis—a member of the Lithuanian parliament and the country's former ambassador to U.S.—told Newsweek on Wednesday that the Baltic "provocation" and other Russian actions should illicit a strong collective Western response.

"It's up to us to either stop Russia from violating international law and all other treaties, or actually invite them to occupy us," Pavilionis said. "The question is always our side, not so much on Russia's, because Russia always expands, always occupies, and always kills."

The Lithuanian lawmaker was speaking while on a visit to Washington, D.C., intended to convince American colleagues to back a NATO accession invitation for Ukraine at the coming July summit. The 2023 Vilnius summit saw Kyiv denied a concrete accession plan, much to the frustration of Ukrainian leaders.

"If now—preparing for the historic Washington NATO summit—we are ready to show this appeasement again at such a historic time, hold onto your seats and wait for what not only Russia, but all other 'Axis of Evil' countries will do with freedom-loving democracies around the globe," Pavilionis added.

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