Less than four years after they joined NATO, former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have been advising their one-time Communist allies on how to join the 26-nation military alliance.

...the Baltics were once more in the centre of attention on Thursday as NATOs defence ministers gathered in the Lithuanian capital,...

Three former communist countries - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia - are currently candidates for the membership. And the Baltic states have already held several talks with them on NATO integration.

The Baltic states assistance extends beyond promoting the Adriatic countries membership of NATO. They have offered the Adriatic countries development aid out of a sense of solidarity and strategic interests in Brussels, David Galbreath, a political observer at the University of Aberdeen...

For Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, sharing the EU and NATO experience stems from their sense of "corporate responsibility" to assist other countries in transition to common European values, Galbreath said.

The Baltics have also been lobbying NATO to extend membership to the former Soviet states of Georgia and Ukraine, encouraging NATO to withstand pressure from Moscow, which sees Georgia and Ukraine in its sphere of influence.