European Court of Human Rights cases on Occupation of Baltic States
Encyclopedia
State continuity of the Baltic states describes the continuity of the Baltic states as legal entities under international law while under German occupation and Soviet rule from 1940 to 1991. The prevailing opinion accepts the Baltic thesis of illegal occupation and the actions of the USSR are regarded as contrary to international law in general and to the bilateral treaties between the USSR and the Baltic states in particular. The competing maxims of ex injuria jus non oritur
and ex factis jus oritur
in international law
, along with other legal and political considerations, have fueled a fundamental confrontation between the Baltic and Russian theses on continuity of the Baltic states and its related consequences.
This legal continuity has been recognised by most Western powers and is reflected in their state practice. The application of the Stimson Doctrine
by the Welles Declaration
where a significant segment of the international community refused to grant formal approval for the Soviet conquest, the resistance by the Baltic people to the Soviet regime, and the uninterrupted functioning of rudimentary state organs in exile support the legal position that sovereign title never passed to the Soviet Union, which implied that "annexation occupation" (Annexionsbesetzung or occupation sui generis) lasted until re-independence in 1991. Thus the Baltic states continued to exist as subjects of international law.
The official position of Russia
is a continuation of the Soviet
position that Estonia
, Latvia
, and Lithuania
were not annexed by the Soviet Union but joined of their own accord in 1940. Russia insists that incorporation of the Baltic states gained international de jure recognition by the agreements made in the Yalta
and Potsdam conferences
and by the Helsinki accords
. They have also argued that in accordance to the internal Soviet laws and constitution, restoration of independence was illegal and the Baltic republics could only become newly created sovereign entities via the secession laws of the USSR. According to this position, all previous treaties, such as Treaty of Tartu
, are invalidated, and all possible claims by Baltic states for monetary compensation have no legal basis.
So on one hand, de jure recognition of Baltic incorporation on the part of other sovereign nations outside the Soviet bloc was largely withheld based on the fundamental legal principle of ex injuria jus non oritur
, that as no legal benefit can be derived from an illegal act, the annexation of the Baltic states was held to be illegal. On the other hand, de facto interruption of statehood by 50 years of annexation
, the fundamental legal principle of ex factis jus oritur
, irrevocable territory and demographic changes made the Baltic case much more complex than mere restitutio in integrum
.
that were formerly parts of the Russian Empire
– Finland
, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – consolidated their borders and independence after the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian independence wars following the end of World War I
by 1920 (see Treaty of Tartu
, Latvian-Soviet Riga Peace Treaty
and Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920). The European Great Powers accorded de jure recognition of Estonia and Latvia on January 26, 1921 and Lithuania on December 20, 1922. The United States
extended de jure recognition to all three states on July 28, 1922.
All three Peace treaties between the respective Baltic states and Soviet Russia identically enshrined the right of self-determination and Russia renounced all previous rights and claims as final and permanent. This principle self-determination reflected one of four key principles proclaimed by Lenin and Stalin on November 15, 1917 in the Declaration of the Soviet Government:
With the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on July 6, 1923, the new union had adopted all treaties entered into previously by Soviet Russia and the original peace treaties continued to be a basis for relations between the USSR and the respective Baltic states.
In the subsequent decade, several bilateral and multilateral treaties and agreements regulating relations were entered into:
This Convention for the Definition of Aggression, an initiative of the Soviet Government, defined in Article 2 various acts as aggression, including naval blockades. The Convention also stipulates:
on 24 February 1918. The document stated a number of principles such as freedom of expression, religion, assembly and association. These principles were further elaborated in the Provisional Constitution of 1919 and the first Constitution of 1920. Popular sovereignty
was to be the basis of Estonia. Also, the second, presidental Constitution was based on popular sovereignity. Later the Constitution of 1938 was an attempt to return to democratic rule, but it still accorded powers to the president. Overall, in spite of internal political changes, Estonia was a legal, internationally recognized state in the years prior to 1940.
This independence was interrupted in June 1940, in the aftermath of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany
and the Soviet Union of August 1939. The Soviet Union used a similar pattern with all three Baltic states, beginning with ultimatums on the basis of alleged failures to fulfill mutual assistance pacts signed the previous year. The ultimatums had to be obeyed within hours, and soon after the Soviet troops marched into the capitals. The Soviets proposed and approved their new governments. Now, the new local governments seemingly made decisions which led to the annexation. In order to create an image of legitimacy, new elections were imposed under the presence of Soviet troops. The United States
, along with a number of other states, did not recognise the occupation and annexation of the Baltic states.
adopted two basic laws. The first Constitution
was adopted in 1922. Latvia was the only one of the three Baltic states in which the Constitution remained in force until Soviet occupation. However, Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis
took power by a coup d'état
and the parliament was dissolved in 1934.
adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania
on 16 February 1918. During the first decades of the Republic of Lithuania, three Constitutions were adopted in 1922, in 1928 and in 1938. The legislative institution of Lithuania was the freely elected parliament. However, Antanas Smetona
took power by a coup d'état
in 1926. He adopted the Constitution of 1928 which increased presidential power and reduced the size of parliament from 85 members to 49. In the Constitution of 1938, the president received broader powers, but the parliament was entrusted with legislation instead of the previous system of presidential decrees. Furthermore, the president was elected by the people for seven years.
A joint appeal to the UN was made by the resistance groups in Baltic states calling the United Nations to denounce the Soviet occupation that resulted the 1983 resolution of the European Parliament on the restoration of Baltic independence.
Most of the countries in the Western Bloc
refused to recognise the incorporation of the Baltic states de jure
and only recognised the Soviet governments of Estonian SSR, Latvian SSR
and Lithuanian SSR
de facto or not at all. Such countries recognized Estonian/Latvian/Lithuanian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in the name of their former governments. These aging diplomats persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Baltic independence.
During the period 1940–1991 the US continued to receive Baltic diplomats, first appointed in office by the Baltic governments before 1940, after 1980 by the Baltic diplomatic services senior members. The Soviet Foreign Ministry issued formal protests against the Baltic diplomatic missions remaining open in Washington DC and elsewhere.
In Canada the official list of diplomats included the offices of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that in the early 1960s caused the Soviet Embassy in Canada refuse to receive the lists distributed by the Canadian Department of External Affairs.
Following the pressure from Soviet Union, the UK excluded the Baltic diplomats from the Diplomatic List, but as a compromise to alleviate concerns of USA, the Baltic diplomats were still accepted as possessing a diplomatic character by His/Her Majesty's Governments.
on 9 April 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8389
, under which the United States Department of the Treasury
froze all financial assets of occupied European countries in the US. After the Soviet Occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Executive Order 8389 was extended to the assets and properties of the Baltic states. During the first Soviet occupation in July 1940, the United States issued Executive Order 8484
which froze Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian financial asset
s, including gold reserve
. The freezing of Baltic assets by the US was condemned by the Soviet Union and it was declared that there shouldn't be any legal basis for delaying the transfer of the Baltic gold from the US Federal Reserve to the State Bank of the Soviet Union.
. In July 1940 the Bank of England
sequestrated the Baltic gold reserves deposited in the UK. During the 1950s the USSR claimed the gold regularly but was rejected due to the de jure non recognition of the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states. In 1967, the Labour government used the reserve in settling mutuals claims with the Soviet Union. On 5 January 1968, an agreement between the UK and USSR was achieved, and the Soviet Union renounced all claims to the Baltic gold held in the Bank of England in return for the waiver of all claims by the UK resulted by the nationalization in the USSR. In 1992 and 1993, the United Kingdom government transferred an equal amount of gold reserves equivalent to £ 90 million back to the Baltic states.
The Baltic assets deposited in Sweden were released to Soviet Union immediately after the Soviets demanded the Baltic gold reserves to be handed over in 1940. The amount was later compensated by Sweden to Baltic states in 1992. In 1991, Sweden promised Estonia to restitute the gold and in 1998 the Swedish government discovered the bank account
s beloging to Baltic nationalities.
The French government refused to turn over the three tons of gold deposited in the Bank of France by Latvia and Lithuania to the USSR.
The gold reserves deposited by Baltic states prior 1940 into the Bank for International Settlements
in Switzerland
remained intact. After Baltic countries regained independence in 1991, the Baltic gold was released to the central banks of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
s against Canada
, Ireland
, the United Kingdom and the United States without results. American and British courts did not recognise the Soviet authority to the property of Baltic nationals. However, states gave Baltic legation
s and consulates to the Soviet Union. With some of transfers were stated that the process did not involve legal title.
At the end of the Second World War, the building housing the Estonian Legation in Berlin
was placed under guardianship by the German authorities. On September 23, 1991, a German court lifted that guardianship and restituted the property to Estonia.
in 1975. During the negotiations, the Soviet Union advocated for any attempt of territorial claims to be deemed an act of aggression. West Germany
, Spain
, Ireland
and Canada
and Canada opposed this; the Canadian representatives stated that accepting the Soviet proposal would mean de jure recognition of the Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states. Supported by other NATO members, the final act instead stated that the current "frontiers"boundaries of territorial control, as opposed to "borders" which would signify boundaries of sovereign jurisdictionof the Soviet Union would not be violated. The President of the United States and leaders of other NATO member states confirmed in statements that the provision did not entail recognition of the Baltic states incorporation into the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, Russia insists that the international community legally recognised the incorporation of the Baltic States into the USSR at Yalta
, Potsdam
, and Helsinki
, characterizing Helsinki as recognizing sovereign borders.
or de facto
; 2. countries that did not recognise the Soviet occupation de jure but recognised the Soviet rule in the Baltics de facto; 3. countries that also recognised the incorporation of the Baltic states de jure; 4. countries that have not expressed their position in any way.
on Whitlam's personal initiative as prime minister and acting foreign minister – Implicit de jure recognition in 1942, when diplomatic relations were established with the USSR without reservation. - In 1977. – Implicit de jure recognition in 1977, when diplomatic relations were established with the USSR without reservation during the Spanish transition to democracy
. – In 1944, Sweden
became one of the first among the few countries to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries. In 1945, Sweden extradited
approximately 170 men from the Baltic countries conscripted into the Waffen SS, who had fled Soviet re-occupation to find refuge in Sweden, to the Soviet Union. On 15 August 2011, Swedish Prime Minister
Fredrik Reinfeldt
officially apologized to the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at a ceremony in Stockholm saying that "Sweden owes its Baltic neighbours a "debt of honour" for turning a blind eye to post-war Soviet occupation" and speaking of "a dark moment" in his country's history.
Countries that had gained independence after World War II and did not make any special statements about the issue of the Baltic states when they negotiated diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union (implicitly) recognised the incorporation the Baltic states into the Soviet Union.
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen's unofficial visit to Estonia in 1964 was often presented as implying recognition. Finland continued diplomatic relations established in 1920 rather than recognise the Baltic states anew in 1991. – though the Shah of Iran's state visit
to Tallinn
in 1974 implied recognition. – though the Prime Minister of India
's trip to Tallinn during the 1981 state visit to the USSR implied recognition.
, a debate sparked over which norms of international law
were applicable to a number of other illegal annexations such as annexation of Austria
and Czechoslovakia
by the Nazi Germany
in 1938. And, with dissolution of the Soviet Union, Georgia
also expressed desire to be recognized as a successor to Democratic Republic of Georgia
(1918–1921) but that was rejected mainly because its period of independence was deemed too short.
had never been suspended, because of the illegal occupation since 1940. A further resolution of the restoration of the Republic of Estonia was adopted on 20 August 1991. The new Constitution
was introduced on 29 July 1992. It was partly linked to the Constitution of 1938, serving further the claims to constitutional continuity.
was adopted on 4 May 1990. It was to restore the authority of the Constitution of 1922, except for a few provisions. The new Constitutional Law
was adopted on 21 August 1991 and it provided for the restoration of independence through negotiations with the Soviet Union. The fifth parliament was elected in 1993, resulting in the nationalists taking the majority. The parliament restored the Constitution of 1922, and upheld the legal continuity of the Republic of Latvia.
in 1990 without a period of transition. The act emphasised the 1918 act and the 1920 resolution for the purposes of constitutional continuity. The Congress of Soviets
adopted a resolution on 15 March 1990 in which Lithuania's decision violated the Constitution of the Soviet Union
. Lithuania adopted a Resolution on the Liquidation of the 1939 Germany–USSR Agreements and their Consequences on 7 February 1990. The Constitutional Court of Lithuania decided the Constitution of 1938 had been suspended in 1940 and proceeded to reintroduce it. At the same time the Court recognised that it was impossible to reconstruct the system as it had existed in 1940. The new Constitution
was adopted on 25 October 1992.
in 1933 was an attempt to list a legal concept of statehood. According to the definition the state has to have a territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into international relations. However, already during the interwar period
, the interpretation and application of the criteria were far from easy, such as the case of Åland Islands
. The concept of statehood in international law cannot be explained by mere reference to the Montevideo Convention. Decision on statehood are taken in given circumstances and at the moment in time.
The Baltic states also base their claim to state continuity on two additional rules; the prohibition of the use of force in international relations
and the right to self-determination, as expressed in free and fair elections. The former rule was the Baltic states' answer to Soviet claims that they had to follow the process of secession under the Soviet Constitution of 1977; the Baltic states argued that they only joined as the result of a forcible occupation.
welcomed the restoration of the sovereignty and independence on 27 August 1991. The Soviet Union recognised the Baltic independence on 6 September 1991. The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe admitted the Baltic states as new members on 10 September 1991.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
noted the Soviet Union violated the right of the Baltic people to self-determination. The acts of 1940 had resulted in occupation and illegal annexation. The Council also noted several member states reconfirmed the Baltic states recognition dating back to the 1920s, while other recognised them anew.
Additionally the European Parliament
, the European Court of Human Rights
and the United Nations
Human Rights Council, have declared the Baltic states
were invaded, occupied and illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union under provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
The admission of the Baltic states to the United Nations
took place in accordance with article four of the United Nations Charter
. When the question of membership of the Baltic states was considered by the Security Council, the council made reference to the regained independence of the Baltic states. Initially, the membership contributions were derived from the fees previously paid by the Soviet Union. However after objections, the United Nations accepted the statements of the Baltic states they were not successor states of the Soviet Union. The Baltic states were accepted as new members, due to the fact the League of Nations
was not a predecessor of the United Nations.
The Baltic states were members of the International Labour Organization
since 1921. Therefore, its recognition was important towards the Baltic states to their claim to state continuity. The organisation accepted the Baltic claim to continue their previous membership, and accepted that the Baltic states continued to be bound by ILO conventions entered into prior to 1940. On that basis, the International Labour Organization considered the Baltic states had been readmitted, even though no formal decision determined it.
There were three different attitudes in relations to the Baltic states after the coup d'état in Moscow in August 1991. First, there were states which had diplomatic relations before 1940 occupation and they had never recognised the 1940 annexation either de jure or de facto. These states, for the most part, resumed diplomatic relations in 1991 without formal recognition. However, some of states considered necessary to re-recognise the Baltic states. Second, there were states which had diplomatic relations before 1940, but had recognised their annexation into the Soviet Union as fait accompli
. Third, there were new states emerged after 1940.
The United States position was originally based on the Stimson Doctrine
applied to the Occupation and annexation of the Baltic States by the Welles Declaration
.
The legal continuity of the Baltic states relies on the Stimson Doctrine
applied to the Occupation of the Baltic States by the Welles Declaration
. The Declaration enabled the Baltic states Estonia
, Latvia
and Lithuania
to maintain independent diplomatic missions to the US, and the Executive Order 8484
protected Baltic financial assets between 1940-1991.
This policy of non-recognition gave rise to the principle of legal continuity, which held that de jure, the Baltic states remained independent states under illegal occupation throughout the period 1940–91.
Mikhail Gorbachev
established a 26-member Commission to evaluate the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and its Secret Protocols. The Commission agreed that the Pact existed and its content was contrary to Baltic–Soviet treaties
. The Commission was not able to reach consensus on the effects of the pact, since it would open the possibility to Baltic exit from the Soviet Union. The issue has not been discussed in the Russian Federation since the report of the Commission in 1989. Contemporary Russian Federation has refused to be bound pre-1940 agreements which the Soviet Union had entered with the Baltic states. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has announced that the distortion of history
and allegations of unlawful occupations are the main reasons for the problems in the Baltic–Russia relations.
At the same time, the Russian Federation claims that it continues as the legal personality
of the former Soviet Union is jeopardised by its own indecisiveness of the relationship between the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union obligations did not continue automatically with the Russian Federation. Decisions were made on a case by case basis. The Russian Federation weighted carefully the degree to which the continuity was its interest, especially in the field of bilateral relations and debts.
made a number of rulings that affirmed the Baltic states were occupied and forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union and that a foreign army had remained on Baltic territory until 1994.
Admission ex-Soviet Union's members into the Council of Europe
in the second part of the 1990s along with other issues brought into the European Court of Human Rights arguments relating to the question of the legality of Baltic states' membership in the Soviet Union.
On 16 March 2006 the Grand Chamber of the Court made the following statement in the case of Tatjana Ždanoka
vs Latvia
(paragraph 119 of its judgment):
Subsequently to Ždanoka, a number of other judgments and decisions were adopted by Chambers (smaller formations) of the Court in cases regarding issues ranging from the restriction of political rights of active Soviet collaborators to criminal conviction for genocide
, whereby the Court reiterated the conclusion that illegal occupation of Baltic States by the USSR had taken place in 1940 (see Kolk vs Estonia
, Penart vs Estonia). In Penart, the Court declared inadmissible an application by a former USSR internal security service operative Vladimir Penart, convicted on charges of crimes against humanity by Estonian court for killing "a person hiding in the woods" most probably a member of Forest Brothers
militant anti-Soviet movement in 1953. The court stated following:
The court's rulings appear favorable to several aspects, which are important with regard to restoration of the Baltic states including the legal continuity doctrine. The rulings confirmed that the USSR committed crimes in the illegally occupied Baltic states such as Soviet deportations from Estonia
and in case Tatjana Ždanoka vs Latvia drew parallels between legal treatment of the German Waffen SS and hardline elements of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
.
In Russian Federation
rulings of the court caused negative reaction among politicians and were characterized as "politicized."
In the Baltic states the court rulings were accepted within the general lines of the Western non-recognition policy (see Stimson Doctrine
). Notably Estonian security police Kaitsepolitseiamet
emphasized the importance of the decisions in its 2006 yearbook.
Ex injuria jus non oritur
Ex injuria jus non oritur is a principle of international law. The phrase implies that "unjust acts cannot create law". Its rival principle is ex factis jus oritur, in which the existence of facts creates law....
and ex factis jus oritur
Ex factis jus oritur
Ex factis jus oritur is a principle of international law. The phrase is based on the simple notion that certain legal consequences attach to particular facts...
in international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, along with other legal and political considerations, have fueled a fundamental confrontation between the Baltic and Russian theses on continuity of the Baltic states and its related consequences.
This legal continuity has been recognised by most Western powers and is reflected in their state practice. The application of the Stimson Doctrine
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine is a policy of the United States federal government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to Japan and China, of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force. The doctrine was an application of the principle of ex injuria jus non oritur...
by the Welles Declaration
Welles Declaration
The Welles Declaration, issued on July 23, 1940 by United States Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, then acting Secretary of State, condemned what the U.S. and the Baltic states saw as the USSR’s annexation of the Baltic states and initiated its refusal to recognize the legitimacy of Soviet...
where a significant segment of the international community refused to grant formal approval for the Soviet conquest, the resistance by the Baltic people to the Soviet regime, and the uninterrupted functioning of rudimentary state organs in exile support the legal position that sovereign title never passed to the Soviet Union, which implied that "annexation occupation" (Annexionsbesetzung or occupation sui generis) lasted until re-independence in 1991. Thus the Baltic states continued to exist as subjects of international law.
The official position of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
is a continuation of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
position that Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
were not annexed by the Soviet Union but joined of their own accord in 1940. Russia insists that incorporation of the Baltic states gained international de jure recognition by the agreements made in the Yalta
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
and Potsdam conferences
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
and by the Helsinki accords
Helsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
. They have also argued that in accordance to the internal Soviet laws and constitution, restoration of independence was illegal and the Baltic republics could only become newly created sovereign entities via the secession laws of the USSR. According to this position, all previous treaties, such as Treaty of Tartu
Treaty of Tartu
The Treaties of Tartu were peace treaties between the Russian SFSR on one side and newly independent Estonia and Finland, which had previously been parts of Imperial Russia, on the other. They were negotiated and signed in Tartu in Estonia in 1920 after the Civil War in Finland, and after war and a...
, are invalidated, and all possible claims by Baltic states for monetary compensation have no legal basis.
So on one hand, de jure recognition of Baltic incorporation on the part of other sovereign nations outside the Soviet bloc was largely withheld based on the fundamental legal principle of ex injuria jus non oritur
Ex injuria jus non oritur
Ex injuria jus non oritur is a principle of international law. The phrase implies that "unjust acts cannot create law". Its rival principle is ex factis jus oritur, in which the existence of facts creates law....
, that as no legal benefit can be derived from an illegal act, the annexation of the Baltic states was held to be illegal. On the other hand, de facto interruption of statehood by 50 years of annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
, the fundamental legal principle of ex factis jus oritur
Ex factis jus oritur
Ex factis jus oritur is a principle of international law. The phrase is based on the simple notion that certain legal consequences attach to particular facts...
, irrevocable territory and demographic changes made the Baltic case much more complex than mere restitutio in integrum
Restitutio in integrum
Restitutio in integrum is a Latin maxim which means restoration to original condition. It is one of the primary guiding principles behind the awarding of damages in common law negligence claims...
.
Historical background
The four countries on the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
that were formerly parts of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
– Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – consolidated their borders and independence after the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian independence wars following the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
by 1920 (see Treaty of Tartu
Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian)
Tartu Peace Treaty or Treaty of Tartu was a peace treaty between Estonia and Russian SFSR signed on February 2, 1920 ending the Estonian War of Independence. The terms of the treaty stated that "Russia unreservedly recognises" the independence of Republic of Estonia de jure and renounced in...
, Latvian-Soviet Riga Peace Treaty
Latvian-Soviet Riga Peace Treaty
The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty also known as the Treaty of Riga, was signed on 11 August 1920 by representatives of the Republic of Latvia and Soviet Russia...
and Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920). The European Great Powers accorded de jure recognition of Estonia and Latvia on January 26, 1921 and Lithuania on December 20, 1922. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
extended de jure recognition to all three states on July 28, 1922.
All three Peace treaties between the respective Baltic states and Soviet Russia identically enshrined the right of self-determination and Russia renounced all previous rights and claims as final and permanent. This principle self-determination reflected one of four key principles proclaimed by Lenin and Stalin on November 15, 1917 in the Declaration of the Soviet Government:
- "The right for Russia's peoples of free self-determination even unto separation and establishment of independent states"
With the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on July 6, 1923, the new union had adopted all treaties entered into previously by Soviet Russia and the original peace treaties continued to be a basis for relations between the USSR and the respective Baltic states.
In the subsequent decade, several bilateral and multilateral treaties and agreements regulating relations were entered into:
- Protocol to bring into force the Pact of Paris (to which all four parties were original signatories), signed in Moscow on February 9, 1929, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy
- bilateral Treaties of Non-Aggression signed with the respective Baltic states and the Soviet Union between 1926 and 1932
- Conciliation conventions related to the Non-Aggression treaties
- Convention for the Definition of Aggression signed in London in July, 1933
This Convention for the Definition of Aggression, an initiative of the Soviet Government, defined in Article 2 various acts as aggression, including naval blockades. The Convention also stipulates:
- "No political, military, economic or other consideration may serve as an excuse or justification for the aggression referred to in Article 2"
Estonia
Estonia adopted the Estonian Declaration of IndependenceEstonian Declaration of Independence
The Estonian Declaration of Independence, also known as the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia , is the founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918. It is celebrated on 24 February, the National Day or Estonian Independence Day....
on 24 February 1918. The document stated a number of principles such as freedom of expression, religion, assembly and association. These principles were further elaborated in the Provisional Constitution of 1919 and the first Constitution of 1920. Popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...
was to be the basis of Estonia. Also, the second, presidental Constitution was based on popular sovereignity. Later the Constitution of 1938 was an attempt to return to democratic rule, but it still accorded powers to the president. Overall, in spite of internal political changes, Estonia was a legal, internationally recognized state in the years prior to 1940.
This independence was interrupted in June 1940, in the aftermath of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the Soviet Union of August 1939. The Soviet Union used a similar pattern with all three Baltic states, beginning with ultimatums on the basis of alleged failures to fulfill mutual assistance pacts signed the previous year. The ultimatums had to be obeyed within hours, and soon after the Soviet troops marched into the capitals. The Soviets proposed and approved their new governments. Now, the new local governments seemingly made decisions which led to the annexation. In order to create an image of legitimacy, new elections were imposed under the presence of Soviet troops. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, along with a number of other states, did not recognise the occupation and annexation of the Baltic states.
Latvia
Latvia adopted the Declaration Establishing a Provisional Government of Latvia on 18 November 1918. In 1920, the freely elected Constituent assemblyConstituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
adopted two basic laws. The first Constitution
Constitution of Latvia
The Constitution of Latvia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia. It was adopted by, as it states itself, the people of Latvia, in a freely elected Constitutional Assembly, on 15 February 1922 and came into force on 7 November 1922. It was influenced by ideas of the Weimar Constitution...
was adopted in 1922. Latvia was the only one of the three Baltic states in which the Constitution remained in force until Soviet occupation. However, Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis
Karlis Ulmanis
Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-World War II Latvia during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.- Education and early career :Ulmanis studied agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and...
took power by a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
and the parliament was dissolved in 1934.
Lithuania
After centuries of foreign domination the Council of LithuaniaCouncil of Lithuania
The Council of Lithuania , after July 11, 1918 The State Council of Lithuania , was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between September 18 and 23, 1917. The council was granted the executive authority of the Lithuanian people and was entrusted to establish an independent...
adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania
Act of Independence of Lithuania
The Act of Independence of Lithuania or Act of February 16 was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty...
on 16 February 1918. During the first decades of the Republic of Lithuania, three Constitutions were adopted in 1922, in 1928 and in 1938. The legislative institution of Lithuania was the freely elected parliament. However, Antanas Smetona
Antanas Smetona
Antanas Smetona was one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II. He served as the first President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. He again served as the last President of the country from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940, before...
took power by a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in 1926. He adopted the Constitution of 1928 which increased presidential power and reduced the size of parliament from 85 members to 49. In the Constitution of 1938, the president received broader powers, but the parliament was entrusted with legislation instead of the previous system of presidential decrees. Furthermore, the president was elected by the people for seven years.
Soviet incorporation in international law
The forcible annexation of the Baltic states was an illegal act under both customary and conventional international law. Under customary law the annexation violated the basic principles such as state sovereignty and independence, the prohibition against violent seizure of territory and the prohibition against intervention. In conventional law the actions of the Soviet Union violated practically every provision of every major convention between the Soviet Union and the respective Baltic states. The Secret Protocols with Germany was a violation of Article 2 of the Estonian and Latvian Non-Aggression treaties. The threat to use force and the ultimatum to conclude the Treaties of Mutual Assistance violated the spirit and letter of the respective Peace Treaties, the Non-Aggression Treaties, the Conciliation Conventions, the Kellogg–Briand Pact and the Protocol for the Renunciation of War. The Soviet action in the military occupation, forcible intervention and annexation constituted an act of aggression within the meaning of Article 2 of the Conventions for the Definition of Aggression of 1933, nor was there any justification according to Article 3 and the Annex of that same convention.Baltic diplomatic sphere 1940–1991
In 1947 a joint communication on the occupation of Baltic states to the UN was sent by the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian diplomats abroad. The Baltic Appeal to the United Nations (now "Baltic Association to the United Nations") was formed in 1966. The UN received numerous appeals from the Baltic diplomatic missions, the emigre organizations, resistance groups in Baltic countries and the US diplomats and policy makes concerning the Baltic question. Due to the presence of the USSR in the Security Council the questions were never raised on the official agenda of the UN.A joint appeal to the UN was made by the resistance groups in Baltic states calling the United Nations to denounce the Soviet occupation that resulted the 1983 resolution of the European Parliament on the restoration of Baltic independence.
Most of the countries in the Western Bloc
Western Bloc
The Western Bloc or Capitalist Bloc during the Cold War refers to the powers allied with the United States and NATO against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact...
refused to recognise the incorporation of the Baltic states de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
and only recognised the Soviet governments of Estonian SSR, Latvian SSR
Latvian SSR
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...
and Lithuanian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
de facto or not at all. Such countries recognized Estonian/Latvian/Lithuanian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in the name of their former governments. These aging diplomats persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Baltic independence.
During the period 1940–1991 the US continued to receive Baltic diplomats, first appointed in office by the Baltic governments before 1940, after 1980 by the Baltic diplomatic services senior members. The Soviet Foreign Ministry issued formal protests against the Baltic diplomatic missions remaining open in Washington DC and elsewhere.
In Canada the official list of diplomats included the offices of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that in the early 1960s caused the Soviet Embassy in Canada refuse to receive the lists distributed by the Canadian Department of External Affairs.
Following the pressure from Soviet Union, the UK excluded the Baltic diplomats from the Diplomatic List, but as a compromise to alleviate concerns of USA, the Baltic diplomats were still accepted as possessing a diplomatic character by His/Her Majesty's Governments.
Baltic assets 1940–1991
After the invasion of Denmark and Norway by Nazi GermanyOperation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
on 9 April 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8389
Executive Order 8389
Executive Order 8389 Protecting Funds of Victims of Aggression was issued by President of United States Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 10, 1940, following the invasions of Denmark and Norway by Nazi Germany.-Implementation of the Order:...
, under which the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
froze all financial assets of occupied European countries in the US. After the Soviet Occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Executive Order 8389 was extended to the assets and properties of the Baltic states. During the first Soviet occupation in July 1940, the United States issued Executive Order 8484
Executive Order 8484
Executive Order 8484, issued on July 10, 1940 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was one of a series of amendments to Executive Order 8389....
which froze Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian financial asset
Financial asset
A financial asset is an intangible asset that derives value because of a contractual claim. Examples include bank deposits, bonds, and stocks. Financial assets are usually more liquid than tangible assets, such as land or real estate, and are traded on financial markets....
s, including gold reserve
Gold Reserve
Gold Reserve Inc. is a gold mining company with operations and mining property in Bolivar State, Venezuela.Founded in 1956, Gold Reserve Inc. is now headquartered in Spokane, Washington. The company has about ten employees at its Washington office and about 55 in Venezuela. Of these 55,...
. The freezing of Baltic assets by the US was condemned by the Soviet Union and it was declared that there shouldn't be any legal basis for delaying the transfer of the Baltic gold from the US Federal Reserve to the State Bank of the Soviet Union.
Gold Reserves
The Baltic states also kept gold reserves in banks in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In July 1940 the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
sequestrated the Baltic gold reserves deposited in the UK. During the 1950s the USSR claimed the gold regularly but was rejected due to the de jure non recognition of the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states. In 1967, the Labour government used the reserve in settling mutuals claims with the Soviet Union. On 5 January 1968, an agreement between the UK and USSR was achieved, and the Soviet Union renounced all claims to the Baltic gold held in the Bank of England in return for the waiver of all claims by the UK resulted by the nationalization in the USSR. In 1992 and 1993, the United Kingdom government transferred an equal amount of gold reserves equivalent to £ 90 million back to the Baltic states.
The Baltic assets deposited in Sweden were released to Soviet Union immediately after the Soviets demanded the Baltic gold reserves to be handed over in 1940. The amount was later compensated by Sweden to Baltic states in 1992. In 1991, Sweden promised Estonia to restitute the gold and in 1998 the Swedish government discovered the bank account
Bank account
A Bank account is a financial account recording the financial transactions between the customer and the bank and the resulting financial position of the customer with the bank .-Account types:...
s beloging to Baltic nationalities.
The French government refused to turn over the three tons of gold deposited in the Bank of France by Latvia and Lithuania to the USSR.
The gold reserves deposited by Baltic states prior 1940 into the Bank for International Settlements
Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements is an intergovernmental organization of central banks which "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks." It is not accountable to any national government...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
remained intact. After Baltic countries regained independence in 1991, the Baltic gold was released to the central banks of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Property
After the 1940 occupation, there were issues related to the property of Baltic citizens abroad. The majority of foreign states refused to send Baltic ships in their ports to the Soviet Union. The Sovet government brought lawsuitLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s against Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the United Kingdom and the United States without results. American and British courts did not recognise the Soviet authority to the property of Baltic nationals. However, states gave Baltic legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
s and consulates to the Soviet Union. With some of transfers were stated that the process did not involve legal title.
At the end of the Second World War, the building housing the Estonian Legation in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
was placed under guardianship by the German authorities. On September 23, 1991, a German court lifted that guardianship and restituted the property to Estonia.
Liabilities
On 4 December 1991 the former republics of the Soviet Union signed the treaty on the division of the Soviet foreign debt. The Baltic states refused to sign. In 1993, the Russian Federation announced it would alone be responsible of the debt.Helsinki Accords
The Baltic question was raised during the negotiations of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in EuropeHelsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
in 1975. During the negotiations, the Soviet Union advocated for any attempt of territorial claims to be deemed an act of aggression. West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Canada opposed this; the Canadian representatives stated that accepting the Soviet proposal would mean de jure recognition of the Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states. Supported by other NATO members, the final act instead stated that the current "frontiers"boundaries of territorial control, as opposed to "borders" which would signify boundaries of sovereign jurisdictionof the Soviet Union would not be violated. The President of the United States and leaders of other NATO member states confirmed in statements that the provision did not entail recognition of the Baltic states incorporation into the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, Russia insists that the international community legally recognised the incorporation of the Baltic States into the USSR at Yalta
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
, Potsdam
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
, and Helsinki
Helsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
, characterizing Helsinki as recognizing sovereign borders.
List of recognition and non-recognition of annexation
In terms of the occupation of the Baltic states, the nations of the world form four groups: 1. countries that explicitly did not recognise the Soviet occupation, either de jureDe jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
or de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
; 2. countries that did not recognise the Soviet occupation de jure but recognised the Soviet rule in the Baltics de facto; 3. countries that also recognised the incorporation of the Baltic states de jure; 4. countries that have not expressed their position in any way.
1. De jure and de facto non-recognition
– maintained official diplomatic relations, neither de jure nor de facto recognition accorded. – maintained official diplomatic relations, neither de jure nor de facto recognition accorded. – no official relations, neither de jure nor de facto recognition accorded.2. De jure non-recognition, de facto recognition
– semi official relations maintained with Baltic representatives, though de jure recognised for 17 months between July 1974 and December 1975. – no final decision on non-recognition policy, no official relations with Baltic representatives – official relations with Baltic representatives, save for the Política Externa Independente era. – semi official relations maintained with Baltic representatives. De facto recognition accorded, de jure denied – no diplomatic relations with USSR. – Some relations maintained with Baltic representatives, no final decision on non-recognition policy – no diplomatic relations with USSR – Some relations with Baltic representatives maintained, no final decision on non-recognition policy – no diplomatic relations with USSR – maintained semi official relations with Baltic representatives, no recognition de jure per policy statement – recognition of Baltic passports, no final decision on non-recognition policy, no de jure recognition accorded – no official relations, no final decision on non-recognition policy – no official diplomatic relations – de facto recognition accorded – no official relations – some relations with Baltic representatives, no final decision on non-recognition policy – no official relations, no final decision on non-recognition policy – no diplomatic relations with USSR – no diplomatic relations with USSR, no de jure nor de facto recognition accorded – maintained semi-official diplomatic relations, had no diplomatic relations with USSR until 1977, neither de jure nor de facto recognition accorded until 1977. – some relations maintained, fiduciary of Baltic assets, no final decision on non-recognition policy – no official relations, no final decision on non-recognition policy – maintained semi official diplomatic relations, de facto recognition accorded – maintained official diplomatic relations – no diplomatic relations with USSR3. De jure recognition
– De jure recognition of the Baltic republics as part of the USSR from 1974 to 1975 by the Whitlam GovernmentWhitlam Government
The Whitlam Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1972 to 1975.-Background:...
on Whitlam's personal initiative as prime minister and acting foreign minister – Implicit de jure recognition in 1942, when diplomatic relations were established with the USSR without reservation. - In 1977. – Implicit de jure recognition in 1977, when diplomatic relations were established with the USSR without reservation during the Spanish transition to democracy
Spanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
. – In 1944, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
became one of the first among the few countries to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries. In 1945, Sweden extradited
Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers
The Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers, in Sweden known as Extradition of the Balts , is a controversial political event in Sweden that took place in 1945-1946, when Sweden extradited some 150 Baltic soldiers who had been drafted by the Axis against the Soviet Union in World War II.On 2 June...
approximately 170 men from the Baltic countries conscripted into the Waffen SS, who had fled Soviet re-occupation to find refuge in Sweden, to the Soviet Union. On 15 August 2011, Swedish Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
Fredrik Reinfeldt
Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...
officially apologized to the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at a ceremony in Stockholm saying that "Sweden owes its Baltic neighbours a "debt of honour" for turning a blind eye to post-war Soviet occupation" and speaking of "a dark moment" in his country's history.
Countries that had gained independence after World War II and did not make any special statements about the issue of the Baltic states when they negotiated diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union (implicitly) recognised the incorporation the Baltic states into the Soviet Union.
4. Countries that have not formally expressed their position
The remaining countries of the world remained silent on the issue for example: – no final decision on non-recognition policy, even though PresidentPresident of Finland
The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen's unofficial visit to Estonia in 1964 was often presented as implying recognition. Finland continued diplomatic relations established in 1920 rather than recognise the Baltic states anew in 1991. – though the Shah of Iran's state visit
State visit
A state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
to Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
in 1974 implied recognition. – though the Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
's trip to Tallinn during the 1981 state visit to the USSR implied recognition.
Historical considerations
The situation with Baltics was not unique. In the aftermath of the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a debate sparked over which norms of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
were applicable to a number of other illegal annexations such as annexation of Austria
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
and Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
by the Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1938. And, with dissolution of the Soviet Union, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
also expressed desire to be recognized as a successor to Democratic Republic of Georgia
Democratic Republic of Georgia
The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917...
(1918–1921) but that was rejected mainly because its period of independence was deemed too short.
Estonia
On 30 March 1990, the Estonian Supreme Council adopted the resolution on the state status of Estonia. The resolution announced that the independence of Estonia de jureDe jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
had never been suspended, because of the illegal occupation since 1940. A further resolution of the restoration of the Republic of Estonia was adopted on 20 August 1991. The new Constitution
Constitution of Estonia
The Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. It was adopted in a freely elected Estonian Constituent Assembly on 15 June 1920 and came into force on...
was introduced on 29 July 1992. It was partly linked to the Constitution of 1938, serving further the claims to constitutional continuity.
Latvia
Following the Soviet period, On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of LatviaOn the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia
The Declaration "On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia" was adopted on 4 May 1990, by the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR...
was adopted on 4 May 1990. It was to restore the authority of the Constitution of 1922, except for a few provisions. The new Constitutional Law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
was adopted on 21 August 1991 and it provided for the restoration of independence through negotiations with the Soviet Union. The fifth parliament was elected in 1993, resulting in the nationalists taking the majority. The parliament restored the Constitution of 1922, and upheld the legal continuity of the Republic of Latvia.
Lithuania
Unlike Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania proclaimed the Re-Establishment of the State of LithuaniaAct of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 was an independence declaration by the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted on March 11, 1990...
in 1990 without a period of transition. The act emphasised the 1918 act and the 1920 resolution for the purposes of constitutional continuity. The Congress of Soviets
Congress of Soviets
The Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and several other Soviet republics from 1917–36 and again from 1989-91. After the creation of the Soviet Union, the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union functioned as its legislative branch...
adopted a resolution on 15 March 1990 in which Lithuania's decision violated the Constitution of the Soviet Union
Constitution of the Soviet Union
There were three versions of the constitution of the Soviet Union, modeled after the 1918 Constitution established by the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , the immediate predecessor of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics....
. Lithuania adopted a Resolution on the Liquidation of the 1939 Germany–USSR Agreements and their Consequences on 7 February 1990. The Constitutional Court of Lithuania decided the Constitution of 1938 had been suspended in 1940 and proceeded to reintroduce it. At the same time the Court recognised that it was impossible to reconstruct the system as it had existed in 1940. The new Constitution
Constitution of Lithuania
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on October 25, 1992.-History:...
was adopted on 25 October 1992.
Baltic state continuity and international law
The Montevideo ConventionMontevideo Convention
The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States was a treaty signed at Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933, during the Seventh International Conference of American States. The Convention codified the declarative theory of statehood as accepted as part of customary international...
in 1933 was an attempt to list a legal concept of statehood. According to the definition the state has to have a territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into international relations. However, already during the interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
, the interpretation and application of the criteria were far from easy, such as the case of Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
. The concept of statehood in international law cannot be explained by mere reference to the Montevideo Convention. Decision on statehood are taken in given circumstances and at the moment in time.
The Baltic states also base their claim to state continuity on two additional rules; the prohibition of the use of force in international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
and the right to self-determination, as expressed in free and fair elections. The former rule was the Baltic states' answer to Soviet claims that they had to follow the process of secession under the Soviet Constitution of 1977; the Baltic states argued that they only joined as the result of a forcible occupation.
International organisations
The European CommunitiesEuropean Communities
The European Communities were three international organisations that were governed by the same set of institutions...
welcomed the restoration of the sovereignty and independence on 27 August 1991. The Soviet Union recognised the Baltic independence on 6 September 1991. The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe admitted the Baltic states as new members on 10 September 1991.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
noted the Soviet Union violated the right of the Baltic people to self-determination. The acts of 1940 had resulted in occupation and illegal annexation. The Council also noted several member states reconfirmed the Baltic states recognition dating back to the 1920s, while other recognised them anew.
Additionally the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
and the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Human Rights Council, have declared the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
were invaded, occupied and illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union under provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
The admission of the Baltic states to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
took place in accordance with article four of the United Nations Charter
United Nations Charter
The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, United States, on 26 June 1945, by 50 of the 51 original member countries...
. When the question of membership of the Baltic states was considered by the Security Council, the council made reference to the regained independence of the Baltic states. Initially, the membership contributions were derived from the fees previously paid by the Soviet Union. However after objections, the United Nations accepted the statements of the Baltic states they were not successor states of the Soviet Union. The Baltic states were accepted as new members, due to the fact the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
was not a predecessor of the United Nations.
The Baltic states were members of the International Labour Organization
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...
since 1921. Therefore, its recognition was important towards the Baltic states to their claim to state continuity. The organisation accepted the Baltic claim to continue their previous membership, and accepted that the Baltic states continued to be bound by ILO conventions entered into prior to 1940. On that basis, the International Labour Organization considered the Baltic states had been readmitted, even though no formal decision determined it.
Bilateral relations
Fait Accompli
Fait accompli is a French phrase which means literally "an accomplished deed". It is commonly used to describe an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it...
. Third, there were new states emerged after 1940.
The United States position was originally based on the Stimson Doctrine
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine is a policy of the United States federal government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to Japan and China, of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force. The doctrine was an application of the principle of ex injuria jus non oritur...
applied to the Occupation and annexation of the Baltic States by the Welles Declaration
Welles Declaration
The Welles Declaration, issued on July 23, 1940 by United States Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, then acting Secretary of State, condemned what the U.S. and the Baltic states saw as the USSR’s annexation of the Baltic states and initiated its refusal to recognize the legitimacy of Soviet...
.
The legal continuity of the Baltic states relies on the Stimson Doctrine
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine is a policy of the United States federal government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to Japan and China, of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force. The doctrine was an application of the principle of ex injuria jus non oritur...
applied to the Occupation of the Baltic States by the Welles Declaration
Welles Declaration
The Welles Declaration, issued on July 23, 1940 by United States Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, then acting Secretary of State, condemned what the U.S. and the Baltic states saw as the USSR’s annexation of the Baltic states and initiated its refusal to recognize the legitimacy of Soviet...
. The Declaration enabled the Baltic states Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
to maintain independent diplomatic missions to the US, and the Executive Order 8484
Executive Order 8484
Executive Order 8484, issued on July 10, 1940 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was one of a series of amendments to Executive Order 8389....
protected Baltic financial assets between 1940-1991.
This policy of non-recognition gave rise to the principle of legal continuity, which held that de jure, the Baltic states remained independent states under illegal occupation throughout the period 1940–91.
Soviet Union and Russian Federation
The last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
established a 26-member Commission to evaluate the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and its Secret Protocols. The Commission agreed that the Pact existed and its content was contrary to Baltic–Soviet treaties
Baltic–Soviet relations
Relevant events began regarding the Baltic states and the Soviet Union when, following Bolshevist Russia's conflict with the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia—several peace treaties were signed with Russia and its successor, the Soviet Union. In the late 1920s and early...
. The Commission was not able to reach consensus on the effects of the pact, since it would open the possibility to Baltic exit from the Soviet Union. The issue has not been discussed in the Russian Federation since the report of the Commission in 1989. Contemporary Russian Federation has refused to be bound pre-1940 agreements which the Soviet Union had entered with the Baltic states. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has announced that the distortion of history
Soviet historiography
Soviet historiography is the methodology of history studies by historians in the Soviet Union . In the USSR, the study of history was marked by alternating periods of freedom allowed and restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , and also by the struggle of historians to...
and allegations of unlawful occupations are the main reasons for the problems in the Baltic–Russia relations.
At the same time, the Russian Federation claims that it continues as the legal personality
Succession of states
Succession of states is a theory and practice in international relations regarding the recognition and acceptance of a newly created sovereign state by other states, based on a perceived historical relationship the new state has with a prior state...
of the former Soviet Union is jeopardised by its own indecisiveness of the relationship between the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union obligations did not continue automatically with the Russian Federation. Decisions were made on a case by case basis. The Russian Federation weighted carefully the degree to which the continuity was its interest, especially in the field of bilateral relations and debts.
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
made a number of rulings that affirmed the Baltic states were occupied and forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union and that a foreign army had remained on Baltic territory until 1994.
Admission ex-Soviet Union's members into the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
in the second part of the 1990s along with other issues brought into the European Court of Human Rights arguments relating to the question of the legality of Baltic states' membership in the Soviet Union.
On 16 March 2006 the Grand Chamber of the Court made the following statement in the case of Tatjana Ždanoka
Tatjana Ždanoka
Tatyana Arkad'evna Zhdanok, , born May 8, 1950 in Riga, is a Latvian politician and Member of the European Parliament and a co-Chairperson of For Human Rights in United Latvia; part of the European Greens–European Free Alliance group. Zhdanok is co-chairperson of ForHRUL since 2001...
vs Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
(paragraph 119 of its judgment):
Latvia, together with the other Baltic States, lost its independence in 1940 in the aftermath of the partition of central and eastern Europe agreed by HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Stalin's Soviet Union by way of the secret protocol to the Molotov-Ribbentrop PactMolotov-Ribbentrop PactThe Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
, an agreement contrary to the generally recognised principles of international law. The ensuing annexation of Latvia by the Soviet Union was orchestrated and conducted under the authority of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionCommunist Party of the Soviet UnionThe Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
(CPSU), the Communist Party of LatviaCommunist Party of LatviaCommunist Party of Latvia was a political party in Latvia.- Latvian Social-Democracy prior to 1919 :The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party . During its second party congress in 1905 it adopted the programme of...
(CPL) being a satellite branch of the CPSU.
Subsequently to Ždanoka, a number of other judgments and decisions were adopted by Chambers (smaller formations) of the Court in cases regarding issues ranging from the restriction of political rights of active Soviet collaborators to criminal conviction for genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, whereby the Court reiterated the conclusion that illegal occupation of Baltic States by the USSR had taken place in 1940 (see Kolk vs Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Penart vs Estonia). In Penart, the Court declared inadmissible an application by a former USSR internal security service operative Vladimir Penart, convicted on charges of crimes against humanity by Estonian court for killing "a person hiding in the woods" most probably a member of Forest Brothers
Forest Brothers
The Forest Brothers were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II...
militant anti-Soviet movement in 1953. The court stated following:
The Court notes, first, that Estonia lost its independence as a result of the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (also known as “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact”), concluded on 23 August 1939, and the secret additional protocols to it. Following an ultimatum to set up Soviet military bases in Estonia in 1939, a large-scale entry of the Soviet army into Estonia took place in June 1940. The lawful government of the country was overthrown and Soviet rule was imposed by force. The totalitarian communist regime of the Soviet Union conducted large-scale and systematic actions against the Estonian population, including, for example, the deportation of about 10,000 persons on 14 June 1941 and of more than 20,000 on 25 March 1949. After the Second World War, tens of thousands of persons went into hiding in the forests to avoid repression by the Soviet authorities; part of those in hiding actively resisted the occupation regime. According to the data of the security organs, about 1,500 persons were killed and almost 10,000 arrested in the course of the resistance movement of 1944-1953. Interrupted by the German occupation in 1941-1944, Estonia remained occupied by the Soviet Union until its restoration of independence in 1991. Accordingly, Estonia as a state was temporarily prevented from fulfilling its international commitments.
The court's rulings appear favorable to several aspects, which are important with regard to restoration of the Baltic states including the legal continuity doctrine. The rulings confirmed that the USSR committed crimes in the illegally occupied Baltic states such as Soviet deportations from Estonia
Soviet deportations from Estonia
As the Soviet Union had occupied Estonia in 1940 and retaken it from Nazi Germany again in 1944, tens of thousands of Estonia's citizens underwent deportation in the 1940s...
and in case Tatjana Ždanoka vs Latvia drew parallels between legal treatment of the German Waffen SS and hardline elements of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
.
In Russian Federation
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
rulings of the court caused negative reaction among politicians and were characterized as "politicized."
In the Baltic states the court rulings were accepted within the general lines of the Western non-recognition policy (see Stimson Doctrine
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine is a policy of the United States federal government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to Japan and China, of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force. The doctrine was an application of the principle of ex injuria jus non oritur...
). Notably Estonian security police Kaitsepolitseiamet
Kaitsepolitseiamet
The Estonian Security Police is a central national security institution of Republic of Estonia. Its purposes are centered around enforcing constitutional order...
emphasized the importance of the decisions in its 2006 yearbook.
See also
- Baltic States Investigation by the US House of RepresentativesBaltic States Investigation by the US House of RepresentativesThe Select Committee to Investigate Communist Aggression and the Forced Incorporation of the Baltic States into the U.S.S.R., also known as the Kersten Committee after its chairman, Rep. Charles J. Kersten was established in 1953 to investigate the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania...
(1953)