Northern Dimension to include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, the importance of the Northern Dimension has increased considerably: eight EU Member States (Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Sweden) surround the Baltic Sea, and the EU’s shared border with Russia has lengthened. Recent years have seen far-reaching changes in the geopolitical map of northern Europe. The Baltic States regained their independence in 1991. Finland and Sweden joined the EU in 1995, and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in 2004. These events greatly increased the Northern and Baltic “presence” of the EU, and substantially lengthened the common border shared by the
Latvia–Russia border from the intersection point of the state borders of Latvia, Russia and Belarus, and ends with the joint borders of Latvia, Russia and Estonia. Latvia borders only one oblast of Russia, the Pskov Oblast. Russia borders seven Latvian municipalities. Crossing the border is allowed only at border controls. Most people need a visa on one or both sides of the border. Listed from north: Border crossings can also be done by air travel. The only international airport in Latvia is Riga International Airport which has scheduled flights among other places to Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The airports at Daugavpils, Liepāja,