Joint Baltic American National Committee Inc. sent questionnaires to the leading Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, asking each for their positions on key issues and concerns of the Baltic-American community.

1. What policy would you follow in U.S. relations with Russia given Russia’s increasing Soviet-style isolationism, anti-Western propaganda, and anti-democratic actions such as restrictions on a free media and return to a “one-party system”? How will you act to stem Russia's intimidation of neighboring countries, such as the Baltics, through boycotts, oil supply manipulation, cyber attacks, disinformation, and other means?

The list of issues that divides the United States and Russia is growing longer. In the heart of Europe, where we have worked hard since the end of the Cold War to bury old rivalries and hostilities...

Many of us had hoped that Baltic-Russian relations would improve after Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia joined NATO and the EU. Instead, Russia has stirred nationalist feelings against Estonia, used oil and natural gas as a political weapon in the Baltic Sea region...

President Putin seems intent on setting Russia on a path of zero-sum competition with the United States...

Unfortunately, President Bush has failed to grasp what is happening. He began the process of tearing up treaties without finding other ways to preserve mutual confidence...

We can do better than this.
As President, I will be ready to work with Russia where our interests intersect – fighting terrorism and nuclear proliferation are just two examples
2. Given the increasingly bold use of energy supply manipulation by Russia as a coercive measure to divide Europe and weaken NATO, what do you think U.S. policy should be to address this problem?

Energy security is a big issue...and I am concerned that Russia is likely to remain a major source of energy for the Baltic states and most of Europe in coming years.

But what we can and must do is manage that dependency better. Part of the answer to this energy security problem is increased diversification of suppliers

In the 1990s the Clinton Administration made the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline a priority, and thankfully, we helped make it a reality. I am deeply disappointed that President Bush has failed to make possible successor projects a priority. As President, I will.

Above all, we need a more unified position within Europe and between Europe and the United States to level the playing field with Russia.
3. Do you support NATO enlargement?

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I was fortunate to learn first-hand about the occupation and illegal annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia...The United States never recognized that annexation, and I am deeply proud of that.

I am also proud of the leadership role that the Clinton Administration played in opening NATO’s door in the 1990s.
4. Do you support expanding trade with and increasing investment in the Baltics? If so, what measures would you propose?

For many years the Baltic states have been at the cutting edge of reform, and they have rapidly expanded trade with the West.

You have turned the Baltic states into high-tech tigers who set the standard for the Internet age.
5. How would you improve U.S. public diplomacy in the Baltic countries? Would you favor more exchanges and people-to-people contacts? If so, how would you deal with the problems of obtaining visas and the implementation of visa-free travel from the Baltic countries to the United States?

I know from my own travel to the region how talented and gifted these societies are. I commit to working with you to create the conditions where visa-free travel becomes a reality as quickly as possible. I know that both sides could benefit from this kind of future.

I fondly remember the many talented young Baltic NGO leaders I had the privilege to meet during my visit to Estonia in 1996 and at a Vital Voices conference in Iceland in 1999.

When I am President, the United States will continue to send the same message to the people of the Baltic countries that I sent when I spoke in Estonia in 1996:

“We rejoice in the freedom you have restored here, we admire your courage and tenacity, and we will continue to stand with you as you regain your rightful place in the family of Western democratic nations.”
More detailed responses at the link...