News

 The Council of Europe Consultative Assembly's 1960 resolution “On the situation in the Baltic States on the twentieth anniversary of their forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union” marked its 50 years anniversary on September 30th.

"The resolution adopted back in the 1960s reveals the historical value of the action that the free part of Europe has taken to remind the world about Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – the states then erased from the political map”, said Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė at the commemorative event.

In the 1960 document, the Assembly members, on behalf of their people, not only declared the annexation of the Baltic States illegal, but also expressed their belief that communist oppression will fail to crush the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian belief in freedom and democracy. The resolution also called on the Council of Europe member states to support the Baltic exile communities' efforts to foster their national culture, language and traditions.

Importantly, the resolution affirmed that the Baltic States remain an independent entity of international law. This has given new stimulus for the Baltic nations to continue their peaceful resistance with the international community's support.

"To deliver such words from the high rostra or establish them in an official text must be a truly unique phenomenon in the 1960s. Resolution at the international level brought a new sense to the post-war resistance in Lithuania, to the liberation activities of the Lithuanian diplomatic community and the diaspora,” said the Lithuanian president.

Today, Georgia is actively struggling that the occupation of its parts – Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region (former South Ossetia) – is recognized internationally.

Lithuanian parliament (the Seimas) is the first foreign institution to officially adopt a resolution on this matter.