On Second Thought.(Baltic people and European Union)

Sandra Liedskalna, a fruit seller in Latvia's capital of Riga, is getting evil looks these days. As an early snow falls on the marketplace, Liedskalna is offering steep discounts on her imperfect yet fresh, honey-scented apples. Her arrival has spelled bad news for nearby fruit stands. Their produce bears the telltale blue and yellow stickers of the European Union, and the EU-imported lemons, bananas and apples are large and perfectly shaped. But they also cost a lot more. Liedskalna prices her homegrown apples however she pleases. The neighboring fruit stand, she says, is run by "a pair of hired hands"--a city dweller "who probably thinks that apples are made on an assembly line."

Such sniping may seem far removed from the high politics of Brussels and EU expansion. But these subtle tensions in Riga's public squares and markets represent the front lines in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Baltic people--many of whom are asking just why they should drop their hard-earned independence from the Soviets to join yet another "union." Late last week France and Germany hammered out a deal on farm subsidies that brought the EU much closer to expanding its ranks, just days after Ireland passed a referendum approving the body's plans for new members. But not everyone along this eastern fringe of Europe is eager to get into the club. A poll conducted by the European Commission this summer, supported by various local polls, makes the ambivalence clear: only 38 percent of Estonians, 46 percent of Latvians and 55 percent of Lithuanians are for joining. With referendums on joining the EU planned for next year in all three countries, huge chunks of the populace remain either undecided or against union altogether.

The lukewarm numbers are surprising to many, especially since all of these countries want to join NATO, even if they have to spend tens of millions meeting qualification requirements (invitations are expected in November). After centuries of European occupation and decades of Soviet repression, "security" is the key word here. Put simply, the skeptics believe that NATO will provide it, the EU won't.

Many view the EU as a giant, paper-shifting bureaucracy that will devour the region's newfound independence. Others have more general fears of a Western European land grab, rising housing and utility rates, or the loss of national identity. NATO, on the other hand, is seen as a ...