There is no doubting the fact that relations between Germany and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are both good and close. Germany’s new minister for foreign affairs, Guido Westerwelle, also leaves no room for doubt as to the particular quality of the relations. Shortly after taking office in the fall of 2009 he met his opposite numbers from the Baltic states in Brussels for consultations which subsequently continued in July 2010 in Tallinn in the traditional 3 + 1 format.