BALTICS: Brothers, Up in Arms; Perceptions to the contrary, there is no 'Baltic bloc.'.

Byline: Steven Paulikas

Benelux. Scandinavia. Visegrad. Clusters of neighboring nations with similar values and interests have long been the engines of European integration. Which is why the unofficial dissolution of one of the continent's most promising mini-unions appears so untimely.

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga pronounces what could be a eulogy to the idea of a unified "Baltic bloc" consisting of Estonia and Lithuania and her own country. The three carry on a friendly dialogue, but it's time for the world to start treating them as separate entities. "Don't expect us to dance out onstage in a line like the little swans in 'Swan Lake'," she says, adding that accession to NATO and the EU has actually decreased the need for cooperation.

The reference to Tchaikovsky's ballet is apt. Disharmony among the Baltic trio has been highlighted lately by painful debates over their complicated relationship with Russia. Last year President Vladimir Putin invited leaders across Europe to attend an extravaganza to be held in Moscow this May marking the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat by the Soviet Union. The Baltic states conspicuously withheld their RSVP, citing the fact that the same victory over Germany obliterated them from the map. At a summit in Vilnius last November, the three sought to coordinate their response. But last month Vike-Freiberga broke with the pack when she unilaterally declared her intention to attend, a move for which she's made no apologies.

Disagreements over Putin's VE Day are just part of a long decline in solidarity. "A shared ...