[donogh]

That’s a good point. I visited Latvia a few years ago and was struck by how large a section of society there identifies as Russian, to the extent that in some places you were more likely to hear people speaking Russian than Latvian.

Poland would be a more difficult target to justify than the Baltics; only 0.1% of Poles speak Russian; 30% of Latvians are native Russian speakers. I could see Putin going there next.

[cobbzilla]

All three Baltic nations are NATO members. An attack on any NATO member requires a response by NATO.

So, not likely that Latvia is next.

[belter]

For the sake of all of us let's hope you are right:

"‘If a war starts, they will come here first’: Latvia mounts a wary border watch"

https://www.politico.eu/article/war-russia-ukraine-latvia-mo...

[Loughla]

>An attack on any NATO member requires a response by NATO.

I am not, even slightly, sure that this is the case anymore. Economic sanctions is as far as anyone is willing to go anymore it seems - and half-assed ones at that.

I absolutely cannot see the US, England, or any other NATO countries sending people to die in Latvia. There just is zero stomach for that in most of the world.

And people like Putin know that, is the problem, I think.