Baltic States Ministers Anxious about Kaliningrad Weapons

The Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian defense ministers told reporters at the end of an international conference in Krakow that they still hope the three countries will join the alliance despite reports in the U.S. newspaper Washington Times last week that Russia has already moved the tactical nuclear missiles. Estonia's Juri Luik said that if this information is correct, it would prove a certain instability in the region. The defense ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia told journalists in Krakow that they would demand explanations as to whether nuclear weapons had been moved into Kaliningrad Region. For the time being they have been gathering reports about the issue.The Latvian defense minister "does not see any need for the Russian Federation to station nuclear weapons in this region because the Baltic Sea area and all the states around it are friendly states". He announced that if the newspaper's report is confirmed, Latvia would demand an international inspection of Kaliningrad Region. "Russia should be ready to open up all the locks which will help clarify this matter," Kristovskis emphasized. According to the Lithuanian defense minister, Antanas Linkevicius, sending to Kaliningrad an "international team of experts would be an unjustified step". "Every action that will help us determine the truth is justified. But it is also important how we comment on reports which have not yet been confirmed," Linkevicius said.