WARSAW — Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its subsequent meddling in eastern Ukraine have triggered vigilance in nearby Poland, the Baltic states and Scandinavia.
Within Moscow's orbit during Soviet times, Poland and the Baltic three — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — are raising military spending and have asked NATO allies, particularly the US, to step up their presence.
NATO already runs air policing missions in its formerly Soviet-ruled Baltic members bordering Russia.
To counter increased Russian military drills in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, the alliance is strengthening defenses on its eastern flank with a spearhead force of 5,000 troops and command centers in places like Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
Poland
Central European heavyweight Poland has kicked off an unprecedented military spending spree worth some €33.6 billion euros ($42 billion) to overhaul its forces over a decade.
Its long shopping list includes an anti-missile shield and anti-aircraft systems, armored personnel carriers and submarines as well as combat drones.
The plans bring Warsaw in line with NATO's recommended defense spending level of two percent of gross domestic product. The country of 38 million has around 100,000 professional soldiers and 20,000 reservists.
Lithuania
One of three Baltic republics that were under Soviet rule from the end of World War II to 1990-91, Lithuania has 8,000 professional military personnel and 4,500 reservists.
Amid heightened tensions with Russia, it recently revived its pre-WWII Riflemen's Union in an effort to deter attacks. Also, since mid-2014 the citizens' militia has grown to 8,000 volunteers in the country of three million.
Vilnius is upping military spending, from 0.89 percent of GDP in 2014 to 1.11 percent or €425 million euros this year.
Lacking sufficient air power, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have relied on larger NATO allies to police Baltic airspace bordering Russia since they joined the alliance in 2004.
Latvia
Riga wants to grow its military to 6,600 members by 2018 from the current 4,600. Plans also call for boosting the number of reservists to 12,000 by 2020 from the 8,000 it has now.
Last November Latvia bought anti-tank weaponry, heavy trucks and all-terrain armoured vehicles from Norway.
A country of two million, Latvia intends to raise military spending to the NATO recommended two percent of GDP by 2020, up from one percent this year.
Estonia
There are 3,000 professional soldiers in this Baltic nation of 1.3 million, though an additional 3,000 conscripts and 1,100 civilians can be put into service.
A voluntary reserve force has swollen to 15,000 since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis.
Estonia already meets NATO's recommended level of military spending, totalling €412 million euros this year. It recently acquired US-made portable Javelin anti-tank missiles, and 44 tracked CV90 type infantry vehicles.
Norway
In 2013, the native land of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spent 1.4 percent of its GDP on the military under his watch as prime minister.
Sharing an Arctic border with Russia, Norway held "Joint Viking" exercise in March 2015 as Moscow mounted massive drills near the border area.
Finland and Sweden
Neither Scandinavian county is a member of NATO but both have raised the possibility of joining.
Amid a spike in Russian military activity in the Baltic, Stockholm deployed troops to the strategically located Gotland island.
It also vowed to boost its submarine fleet after its armed forces failed to find a suspected Russian mini-sub in the Stockholm archipelago.
In 2013, defense spending accounted for 1.1 percent of Sweden's GDP.
Sharing a long border with Russia, Finland's 2015 military spending accounted for 1.29 percent of its GDP, totaling €2.7 billion euros.
