The annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the subsequent

intervention in Ukraine created a shockwave in the European security

system. It suddenly became apparent that certain key rules of

international conduct in Europe could no longer be taken for granted.

Opponents of Vladimir Putin's Russia in the West, and especially in the Baltic states, immediately put the events in and around Ukraine in the context of previous developments, in particular the 2008 Russian-Georgian war. Their conclusion was that the intervention was part of a long-term plan of imperial expansion, which is going to continue in the nearest future.