At the end of September 2025, the news was made public in Latvia that the country plans to restore swamps, reservoirs and forests in historically destroyed – areas due to peat extraction. Degraded peatlands should once again turn into healthy natural areas of the local eco-system. This idea, which was expressed in Riga, was also received with great enthusiasm in the neighboring states – from Finland to Poland.
The intrigue lies in the fact that the specified proposal regarding the restoration of wetlands was not put forward by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia, and not by the State Environmental Protection Service of Latvia, but by the Ministry of Defense of the country. The latter officially stated that the national armed forces support the revival of historical peat extraction sites on the eastern border, as their restoration can be a significant contribution to strengthening the country’s defense capabilities, acting as natural obstacles on the eastern border of Latvia. In this light, the ministry recommended first focusing on those peat extraction sites where the restoration of swamps can directly contribute to the construction of the Baltic Defense Line!
In general, peatlands occupy an average of up to 10% of the territory of the countries of the Baltic region. Most of these peatlands are concentrated directly on the border of NATO member states with the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, namely – Russia led by dictator V. Putin and its ally Belarus, led by dictator A. Lukashenko. Peatlands stretch from the Finnish Arctic through the three post-Soviet Baltic states, past the «Suval corridor» between Poland and Lithuania all the way to the eastern regions of Poland. Currently, the Baltic states do not have a single plan for the restoration of swamps, so far each country is acting in this direction separately. In any case, scientists claim that it will be quite simple – to close the drainage ditches and restore the water regime.
Riga’s initiative is explained by the fact that all the states of the Baltic region fear that they may be next in Russia’s sights if it wins the war against Ukraine. All states of the region sharply increased their defense activity after the large-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Moreover, the military specialists of the Baltic states drew attention to the episode of the first week of the war, when columns of Russian armored vehicles tried to reach Kyiv, however, Ukrainian defenders blew up a dam on the Irpin River, as a result of which Russian tanks got bogged down in a swamp (at least in one of the directions of the offensive). In this context, officials of the European institutions in Brussels, who fully supported Latvia’s idea of restoring the wetlands, point out that peat bogs are equally good at capturing carbon dioxide that heats the planet (which meets EU climate goals) and sinking enemy tanks.
Of course, the three post-Soviet Baltic states, which are the most likely target for the Kremlin, do not rely solely on natural barriers. On January 19, 2024, during a joint meeting of the defense ministers of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in Riga, it was announced that the three mentioned countries decided to build a joint defense line together. This line is planned to consist of anti-mobile defenses, such as about six hundred bunkers along each individual state border, as well as anti-tank ditches, M142 HIMARS rocket artillery systems, etc. In addition to the actual defensive structures, the Baltic Defense Line will be filled with warehouses that will store «dragon teeth», anti-tank «hedgehogs», barbed wire and other defensive elements. As the Latvian military assumed, the construction of this line will last up to ten years.It is planned that the first layer of defense will be located directly on the border, which will consist of a wide anti-tank ditch of five kilometers, supported by «dragon teeth», then – minefields, then – strongholds and trenches, and behind them – also the second line of trenches. The second layer of defence would again include trenches as well as mined bridges, which would be blown up if necessary. The third layer will contain trenches and mined bridges, as well as a large number of trees, from which, if necessary, rubble can be quickly formed.
The Baltic line of defense aims to increase the survivability of its own or friendly troops, prevent the mobility and logistics of the enemy, and enable the defenders to save human resources. As the first days of the war in Ukraine showed, it does not take so much to disrupt the movement of Russian armored columns. Overall, Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn hope that by working together, the three small states will be able to overcome numerical and geographical weakness against their gigantic and aggressive neighbor in the east.
At the same time, fortifications can also be a real test. The most famous example is the Maginot Line –, a system of French fortifications on the border with the Third Reich, with a total length of about 400 km, which was named after the Minister of War, General Andre Maginot. This line became a parable in tongues that static defense could turn into a trap. The successful offensive of the Wehrmacht troops in France at the beginning of the Second World War proved that the problem was not in the forts, but in the absence of mobile reserves and clever commanders!The outlined experience shows that the Baltic Defense Line will be useful only for limited tasks: slowing down the Russian offensive, repelling minor Russian raids, deterring Russian aggression of a limited nature. Instead, the basis of defense should be reserves, reinforced by aircraft and artillery, which will block Russian strikes and, ultimately, push the aggressor out of Baltic soil. At the same time, the main part of the forces for the counterattack will have to come from larger NATO states, such as the USA, Germany, France and Great Britain.
The main question is how long it will take for NATO to mobilize a fully equipped and sufficiently equipped army to help the Baltic states, especially if the isolationist US does not join the military coalition. At the moment, it is not at all obvious that the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance will be able to gather an army from purely European units (without the help of the United States) quickly enough and in sufficient numbers.
Over the past almost four years, the Baltic states (as well as Poland and Finland) have done a lot to significantly strengthen their defense potential. However, the governments and population of these countries should clearly know that as part of countering hypothetical aggression by Russia, they can rely not only on themselves and their line of defense, but also on the entire North Atlantic Treaty Organization!