Introduction

 		 
    The three Baltic States; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are often seen as a block of nations with the same interests as well as problems. After their newfound independence they were expected to work together to overcome their economic and security problems arising from the radical changeover from eastbound socialist states to westward oriented capitalist societies. But during the 1990€s as well as during their first years of independence € between the World Wars € their teamwork has been difficult. It seems their only common denominator, apart from their physical closeness, is their history with the Soviet Union/Russia and the problems it has caused them.

 
    Therefore it was not surprising that the Soviet Union became the uniting factor in the inter-Baltic cooperation, as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined forces in their fight for independence from the USSR achieving their goal in September 1991, only a few months before the breakdown of the whole Soviet Union. Since they broke loose the three states have all sought alliances with Western Europe: with the European Union, WEU and NATO, hoping to achieve the status of West-European countries and once and for all rid themselves of their Russian €label€. Sadly enough these strivings have put the cooperations between the Baltic states in the background, also the general differences as well as the seperate economic and foreign policies of each country are surfacing. The cooperation between the three is an important factor in gaining their membership in the western economic and security structures, and this fact makes the Baltic states more intent on trying to work together.

 
    In my essay I will try to clarify the problems surrounding the cooperation between the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), and their application for membership in the various Western European economic and security structures. Their relationship with Russia plays an important role in these matters and will therefore also be accounted for. I will set the situation in the Baltics of today against the background of the latest developments since the Baltic republics threaded the path to their second independence. What are the achievements of the Baltic cooperation, their relationship with Russia in the East and Europe in the West at the moment, and what are some of the likely future developments? To answer these questions I have used part of the enormous body of literature, relating to the subject, published in the last decade. Since my knowledge of the languages spoken in the Baltic countries is limited, I have been forced to use books written in English, of which I found a fair number. I have also studied the biggest Finnish newspaper the Helsingin Sanomat and the Review of Economies in Transition published by the Bank of Finland, in order to cover the recent events. With this literature as the backbone of the seminar I hope to give as accurate and diverse view of the situation in the three Baltic republics as possible.