Situation of the Baltic peoples
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 28 January 1987 (25th Sitting) (see Doc. 5667, report of the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries, and Doc. 5687, opinion of the Political Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly D 28 January 1987 (25th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Considering that Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights proclaims the right of peoples to self-determination, and that the Soviet Union is a Contracting Party thereto ;
2. Considering that Principle VIII of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe guarantees the right of peoples to self-determination and also their right, in full freedom, to determine, when and as they wish, their internal and external political status ;
3. Recalling that the incorporation of the three Baltic states into the Soviet Union was and still is a flagrant violation of the right to self-determination of peoples, and that it remains unrecognised by the great majority of European states and many members of the international community ;
4. Considering that the elimination of the international problems created by this incorporation demands solutions on the basis of the international obligations entered into by the Soviet Union and other members of the international community ;
5. Having noted and deplored serious violations of human rights, including freedom of religion, committed by the Soviet authorities in the three Baltic states ;
6. Deploring the fact that, as a result of forced immigration into their area, the Baltic peoples are brought under pressure to assimilate, and that the lack of possibilities for education and cultural expression of their own is leading towards the loss of national identity ;
7. Recalling the Resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 13 January 1983, concerning the situation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ;
8. Believing that, politically, a solution of the Baltic problem can best be sought in the wider framework of East-West relations, in particular relations between the two superpowers ;
9. Considering that an improvement of those relations could make it easier effectively to raise the question of these countries' fate notably in the framework of the CSCE, the aim of which, by means of the endeavours of all European states, is to overcome East-West antagonism while respecting the right of each freely to determine its political, economic, social and cultural systems in accordance with the wishes of its population ;
10. Noting that some of the principles governing mutual relations between the states participating in the CSCE take note of the territorial demarcation inherited at the end of hostilities in 1945 (inviolability of frontiers, territorial integrity) without, however, freezing the situation or sanctioning the European status quo ;
11. Emphasising that the Helsinki Final Act expressly provides for the possibility of changing frontiers, in accordance with international law, by peaceful means and by agreement ;Emphasising that, in the field of human rights, the states participating in the CSCE cannot invoke the principle of national sovereignty in order to prevent discussion of respect for these rights,
12. Appeals to the Government of the Soviet Union to respect the right to self-determination and the human rights in the Baltic states ;
13. Invites the governments of member states of the Council of Europe at the CSCE Conference in Vienna and, if need be, at further CSCE meetings to draw the attention of participating states to the serious violations of human rights and the right to self-determination in the three Baltic states.
