NATO and Baltic States

I believe that the membership of the Baltic States in NATO is very much in US interest and it significantly enhancing overall security in Europe.
The Baltic States have made significant progress in meeting the economic, political and military requirements for NATO membership since achieving their independence in 1991. All three states have functioning democratic systems and viable market economies.
The Baltic States had to create militaries from scratch after achieving independence. Given their small size and limited financial resources, this has not been an easy task. Nonetheless, all three Baltic States have made significant progress in modernizing their military forces and making them capable of operating with NATO forces.
Given the small size of their armed forces and the strong financial constraints they face, the Baltic States cannot hope to build powerful armed forces that can match those of the larger and richer members of the Alliance. Instead they have sought to enhance their value to the Alliance by developing specialized capabilities in certain areas.…