Baltic States commemorate 30 years since Russian troop withdrawal

Estonia and Latvia commemorated the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of Russian troops from the two Baltic states with various events on Saturday.

In the Estonian capital Tallinn, President Alar Karis, and in the Latvian capital Riga his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkēvičs highlighted the symbolic, political and legal significance of the events three decades ago.

Both heads of state emphasized that without the troop withdrawal, neither genuine independence nor the path to the 2004 accession to the European Union and NATO defence alliance would have been possible.

They made these remarks during meetings with individuals who were involved in the withdrawal negotiations with Russia at the time.

Eyewitnesses noted the difficult and protracted talks with Moscow, in which Western powers, including Germany, also intervened.

The important role and foresight of the then heads of state of Estonia and Latvia, Lennart Meri (1929-2006) and Guntis Ulmanis, who both concluded the troop withdrawal agreements with then Russian president Boris Yeltsin in Moscow, were acknowledged.

"Psychologically, militarily, economically, in every respect, this is one of the most important events of the post-war period, if not the most important event, in the Baltic States," Ulmanis, who served as president from 1991 to 1999, told dpa on Saturday on the sidelines of another commemorative ceremony at the Latvian War Museum in Riga.

"Nothing could have been more important. During my two terms as president, I essentially only thought about this issue and worked to reduce Russia's influence in Latvia," Ulmanis said.

With the troop withdrawal, half a century of Russian military presence in the Baltics came to an end, a year after Russian forces had already withdrawn from Lithuania.