Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Russia angers Baltic states with review of independence
Source: Reuters
World | Wed Jul 1, 2015 8:02am EDT
Russia angers Baltic states with review of independence
MOSCOW/VILNIUS | BY MARIA TSVETKOVA AND ANDRIUS SYTAS
A move in Russia to review the legality of a 1991 decision formally granting Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia independence from the Soviet Union has alarmed the Baltic States and stoked tensions in ties with Moscow.
The Baltic states declared independence in 1990 and 1991, and activists in Lithuania and Latvia were killed in attempts by Soviet forces to quell rebellion. The events have been a matter of particular sensitivity in the three countries since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, another former Soviet republic.
The Russian prosecutor-general's office said on Tuesday it would review a decision by the Soviet Union's State Council, the highest organ of state power, in the last months of the Soviet empire, to recognize the break. Two members of the United Russia party loyal to President Vladimir Putin have termed it treason.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was not familiar with the move. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he knew nothing of it and experts said the legal consequences of a such a review would not be far-reaching.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Russia angers Baltic states with review of independence
MOSCOW/VILNIUS | BY MARIA TSVETKOVA AND ANDRIUS SYTAS
A move in Russia to review the legality of a 1991 decision formally granting Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia independence from the Soviet Union has alarmed the Baltic States and stoked tensions in ties with Moscow.
The Baltic states declared independence in 1990 and 1991, and activists in Lithuania and Latvia were killed in attempts by Soviet forces to quell rebellion. The events have been a matter of particular sensitivity in the three countries since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, another former Soviet republic.
The Russian prosecutor-general's office said on Tuesday it would review a decision by the Soviet Union's State Council, the highest organ of state power, in the last months of the Soviet empire, to recognize the break. Two members of the United Russia party loyal to President Vladimir Putin have termed it treason.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was not familiar with the move. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he knew nothing of it and experts said the legal consequences of a such a review would not be far-reaching.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/01/us-russia-baltics-idUSKCN0PB4M520150701
