The Baltic States are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. All were annexed into the Soviet Union in 1940, and finally regained their independence in 1991. All three countries joined NATO at the same time in 2004. Since 1989, the population of Estonia has fallen from 1.55m to 1.33m, Latvia from 2.67m to 1.89m and Lithuania from 3.67m to 2.81m. Viewed as a whole, the Baltic population has fallen from a high of 7.89m in 1989 to today’s figure of 6.03m representing a drop of over 23%, yet the countries their people have left are prime real estate for NATO in its quest for European supremacy.