H.R. 5543 — Baltic Security Assessment Act of 2025

This section states the sense of Congress that (1) supporting and strengthening the security of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania serves U.S. national security interests; (2) continuing to strengthen and update the U.S.-Baltic security cooperation roadmap is critical amid ongoing threats from Russia, including its illegal war in Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022; (3) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are valued NATO members contributing to the alliance's collective security; and (4) improved U.S.-Baltic economic ties, including to counter economic pressure from China, would strengthen the strategic partnership.

This section requires the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on emerging threats to the Baltic countries (i.e., Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), due not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act. The report must address (1) emerging military, cyber, hybrid, and political threats to the Baltic countries; (2) the roles of Russia, Belarus, China, Iran, and other malign actors in advancing such threats; (3) the current posture and presence of U.S. and NATO forces in deterring such threats; (4) opportunities to enhance bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation between the United States and the Baltic countries; and (5) recommendations for strengthening the deterrence posture, cybersecurity infrastructure, and democratic resilience of the Baltic countries. The report must be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex. In this section, the appropriate congressional committees are the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Armed Services and the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Armed Services.