Senators urge recognition of Baltics (09/01/91)

Senators urge recognition of Baltics

WASHINGTON - Sixteen members of the U.S. Senate sent a letter to President George Bush on August 23, strongly urging him to "seize this moment in history and promptly extend official diplomatic recognition" to the three Baltic states, reported the Washington Office of the Lithuanian Information Center (LIC).

"Now is the time for the United States to extend official diplomatic recognition to the Baltic states. All three Baltic republics have declared their independence and have appealed to the world for recognition. They deserve that recognition and the United States must lead the way to a restoration of Baltic sovereignty at this unique moment in history," says the letter, which was spearheaded by Sen. Donald Riegle (D-Mich.).

The letter signed by 11 Democrats and five Republicans points out that Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who has emerged as the dominant figure in the USSR following the collapse of the reactionary coup, has endorsed Baltic independence and urges President Bush to "stand with Yeltsin and the Baltic people in the name of freedom and justice."

The speed with which the letter was drafted and the signatures of the 15 senators collected following the collapse of the coup, in spite of the fact that the Senate is in recess, seems to indicate that the political wind in Washington is shifting in favor of immediate recognition of the Baltic states, a step that President Bush has successfully resisted in the case of Lithuania for 17 months, noted the LIC.

Among the signatories are Sen. Bill Bradley, who has emerged as the leading Democratic critic on Capitol Hill of President Bush's policy toward the USSR, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who is expected to seek the nomination of his party to oppose Bush in the 1992 elections.

Other signatories to the letter include Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), Alan Dixon (D-Ill.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Malcolm Wallop (R-Wyo.), Harris Wofford (D-Pa.).