A Russian lawmaker has called for Lithuania’s independence to be revoked by introducing a bill that illegally left the Baltic republic more than three decades ago.
The proposed law was introduced in Russia’s lower house, the Duma, on Wednesday by Yevgeny Fyodorov, a member of the ruling United Russia party.
In March 1990, Lithuania became the first republic to declare its intention to regain its independence from the crumbling Soviet Union, which it had controlled for five decades after the Soviet army occupied it in 1940.
The Soviet authorities initially tried to stop this move, insisting that it be reversed and imposing an economic blockade on the country. Mass protests followed and the Soviet army invaded the capital Vilnius.
The USSR State Council, chaired by its last president, Mikhail Gorbachev, finally passed a decree declaring Lithuania independent on September 6, 1991, at which time the new status of the Baltic republic had already been recognized by 50 states.
But Fyodorov said the decree was “illegal” as it was passed “by an unconstitutional body” in violation of the USSR constitution.
He said that according to Article 67.1 of the Russian Constitution, the Russian Federation is the legal successor of the USSR on its territory. Therefore, according to him, this means that the recognition of Lithuania’s independence, taken by the State Council of the USSR, is subject to revocation.
In an explanatory note to the bill, he added that “there was no referendum on the separation of Lithuania from the USSR” and “no transitional period has been established to address all contentious issues.”
“Just one more day in the State Duma … United Russia MP Evgeniy Fyodorov has introduced a bill to revoke the recognition of Lithuania’s independence,” Russian observer Francis Scar of BBC Monitoring wrote on Twitter.
“Fedorov’s views are extreme even by the standards of Russian lawmakers, so I don’t expect this to get anywhere,” Scar added.
However, Fedorov’s bill comes at a sensitive time for the Baltic states, which are at the forefront of NATO’s assistance in Ukraine’s military efforts against Russia and are worried about President Vladimir Putin’s future intentions.
In March, former Russian senior officer Igor Korotchenko raised the prospect of taking over the Baltic states on Moscow’s state-run Russia-1 television channel in response to NATO’s role in Ukraine.
Just one more day in the State Duma … United Russia MP Evgeniy Fyodorov submitted a bill to revoke the recognition of Lithuania’s independence
(Fyodorov’s views are extreme even by the standards of Russian legislators, so I do not expect this to get anywhere) https://t.co/WXjk59dRZv
– Francis Scar (@francis_scarr) June 8, 2022
Lithuania borders the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and, together with its Baltic neighbors, has been the scene of the alliance’s exercises in preparation for any Russian aggression. Last month, Lithuanian citizens raised nearly $ 5 million to buy an advanced military drone for Ukraine.
In June 2015, Fyodorov said that Russia’s recognition of the independence of the Baltic states was illegal and prompted an investigation into the matter by the Russian public prosecutor.
Then-Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius described Moscow’s investigation, which called into question his country’s legitimacy, as an “absurd provocation”.
Newsweek contacted the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry for comment.
Lithuanians celebrated in Vilnius on March 11, 1990, after the newly elected parliament voted unanimously to change the name of the Soviet Baltic state to the “Republic of Lithuania”, becoming the first Soviet republic to declare its independence from the USSR. On June 8, 2022, United Russia MP Evgeny Fedorov introduced a bill claiming that the declaration of independence was illegitimate. WOJTEK DRUSZCZ / Getty Images
Correction 09.06.22, 8.30 am ET: The story has been corrected to indicate that Lithuania has a border with Russia, through the Kaliningrad enclave.
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