Twenty-eight years ago, on March 11, 1990, The Ukrainian Weekly’s editorial celebrated Lithuania’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union, which had sparked threats of violence and military force from Moscow.
The Lithuanian Supreme Soviet, “expressing the will of the people,” stated that it “declares and solemnly proclaims the restoration of the exercise of sovereign powers of the Lithuanian state which were annulled by an alien power in 1940.” The Parliament went on to declare that the February 16, 1918, Act of Independence of the Supreme Council of Lithuania and the May 15, 1920, Constituent Assembly Resolution on the restoration of a democratic Lithuanian state “have never lost their legal force and are the constitutional foundation of the Lithuanian state.”
The White House response under President George H. W. Bush was cautious, but supported Lithuania’s right to self-determination, and urged Moscow to open talks and to uphold its pledge not to use force.
The U.S. House of Representatives, led by Richard Durbin (D-Ill.; now a senator), Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), Bill Sarpalius (D-Texas) and John Miller (R-Wash.), introduced a resolution on March 15 that congratulated Lithuania’s government for carrying out the will of its people in proclaiming independence and urged the Soviet leadership to “recognize and respect the aspirations of the people of Lithuania by entering into immediate, constructive negotiations with the new government of Lithuania on an equal basis.” The resolution urged President Bush to: strengthen his commitment to an independent and democratic Lithuania; plan for and take those steps at the earliest possible time to normalize diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Lithuania; seek effective political support among allies as Lithuania attempted to negotiate credits in Western markets; and make technical assistance available to the people of Lithuania.
The U.S. had never recognized the forcible incorporation of the Baltic states into the USSR. The Weekly’s editorial urged the U.S. to abide by this policy, reminding that “Doing so means recognizing the will of the people of Lithuania in re-establishing their independence. Mr. Bush, as leader of the Western world, can take a great step in granting diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Lithuania.”
Source: “Long Live Lithuania,” The Ukrainian Weekly, March 25, 1990.