When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rapolas Markevicius was managing a private equity fund in Lithuania -- a country on NATO's eastern flank that fears it might be Moscow's next target. He is one of several startup founders in the Baltics trying to invigorate the region's defensive capabilities, as NATO's eastern members face their own hybrid threats from Russia and its close ally Belarus. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement Advertisement"The beginning of the war was kind of a call for action for us," Markevicius told AFP. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementIn that environment, defence startups across the region have been able to attract significant foreign investment. - 'A new normal' -A burgeoning defence startup sector "is not something that is going to stop a potential Russian attack", Milan Trajkovic, an analyst at Fitch, told AFP.