Baltics at the Ankara NATO summit, a pan-European memorial rising in Brussels, Vilnius recalibrating its role in Belarus's democracy movement, Estonia's crypto licences, Russia's Russian-speakers' discrimination lawsuit and a Latvian conscription draft — these are the developments set to shape Baltic headlines in July.
July / 2026 Baltics Next Month Newsletter
Head of the Defence Class
From the 7th to the 8th of July 2026, Turkey is hosting a NATO Summit in Ankara. Last year, in the Hague, all 32 NATO member states—except Spain—committed to raising their annual defence and security-related expenditures to five per cent of their GDP by 2035, and the big question is whether they will take steps to further advance this decision. While the Hague Summit set the NATO review for this commitment all the way to 2029, geopolitically vulnerable Baltic States have been quick to meet the benchmark and are getting anxious. To get a feel, read the recent interview with Baiba Braže, Latvia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, where she urges allies to reach the threshold well before the deadline. Meanwhile, for many NATO members, such a drastic increase is still very much in the debate phase. Will the Ankara Summit follow the lead of the Baltics and increase the armament pace?