New partner in Europe: Baltic foreign trade in transition (original publication in German)

The article focuses on the changing Baltic trade patterns in the course of transition and integration into the European Union since the early nineties. The rapid reform process in the Baltic States provided the basis for the forthcoming EU full membership and the development of foreign trade relations according to their comparative advantages. The statistical analysis for Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian regional trade shows that these countries successfully integrated into the Common Market of the EU although a significant share of trade with the CIS remained - even after the Russian crisis in 1999. This picture is corroborated by gravity model estimates which also identify the Baltic Sea region as a special area of integration and give detailed information about the role of the Baltic States as a bridge towards the former Soviet Union.