RIGA, Sep 17, BNS – The US Senate on Tuesday passed a resolution congratulating Latvia on the 90th anniversary of its independence and urging Russia to acknowledge the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.
The resolution notes that already in 2005 the US Senate officially called on the Kremlin to issue a clear and unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation of the illegal occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The Congress “calls on the President and the Secretary of State to urge the Government of the Russian Federation to acknowledge that the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and for the succeeding 51 years was illegal” the resolution says.
The document underlines that the US never recognized the Baltics as “Soviet republics” and maintained continuous diplomatic relations with these countries throughout the Soviet occupation.
The resolution also notes that the US “recognizes the common goals and shared values of the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the close and friendly relations and ties of the three Baltic countries with one other, and their tragic history in the last century under the Nazi and Soviet occupations.”