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 100 Border Guard, Military Police and military academies. The parade was led by Gen. Riho Terras, President Kersti Kaljulaid was present to greet the different units. Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Icelandic President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson joined Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis in attending the military parade and the celebrations. The NATO countries and other military partners of Latvia that were represented at the parade were Italy, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Finland, Albania, Croatia, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain Slovenia, Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Canada and the United States. Each year