VILNIUS, Jun 25, BNS – Chairs of parliamentary foreign affairs committees of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland have urged the State Duma of the Russian Federation and other institutions to build relations with the neighboring countries on international law, respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

According to the letter, the first step towards the improvement of neighborly relations would be for the State Duma to stop debate on a bill providing for a recall of the 1989 decision by the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union to deem the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols unfounded and invalid.

The State Duma is scheduled to adopt the abovementioned bill in July 2020.

“The joint letter of parliamentary foreign affairs committees of the Baltic countries and Poland sends a message that the countries, which suffered Soviet occupation, are united against attempts to rewrite history and to use such actions to justify the current aggressive policy of the Russian Federation towards its neighboring countries,“ a press release from the Seimas quoted Juozas Bernatonis, chairman of Lithuania's parliamentary Committee of Foreign Affairs, as saying.

The joint letter points out that the new bill equals the attempt to justify international relations based on violence against smaller neighboring countries, which actually means the consolidation of Russia’s current policy with respect to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova and opens the way for other potential violations of international law.

The chairs of parliamentary foreign affairs committees of the three Baltic countries and Poland also expressed hope that the current members of the State Duma would show at least the same level of wisdom and courage as their predecessors back in 1989.

In 1989, the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union adopted a resolution on "the political and legal assessment" of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact to condemn this document and deem it invalid.

However, an initiative to recall that decision has recently been registered at the Russian parliament.

Signed in August 1939, the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and secret protocols divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence on the eve of WWII. Soon after the signing of this pact, the war broke out and the Baltic states and Poland were occupied.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 205 85 08, Vilnius newsroom