Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 4, 1990 TAG: 9005040011
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Washington Post and The Associated Press
DATELINE: RIGA, U.S.S.R. LENGTH: Medium
The Lithuanian leader was speaking on the eve of an expected vote for independence by the Parliament of the neighboring Baltic republic of Latvia.
In Washington, Lithuanian Prime Minister Kazimiera Prunskiene appealed to President Bush to formally recognize her government's independence.
Bush said at a news conference shortly before the 45-minute Oval Office meeting that he sees no role for the United States as a mediator between Lithuania and Moscow.
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Bush was pleased to get a first-hand account of the conditions in Lithuania, and told her to take back this message:
"I am personally, and the United States government, is committed to the self-determination of the people of Lithuania."
Fitzwater said Bush repeated the 50-year U.S. policy "of refusing to recognize the forcible incorporation of the Baltic states into the U.S.S.R."
The opening session of the Latvian legislature suggests the separatist bandwagon is rolling in all three Baltic republics, which were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 under a secret agreement with Nazi Germany. But the pace and nature of the independence movement differs in each republic - with Lithuania in the lead and Latvia and Estonia on a more cautious approach.
Procedural votes in Thursday's Latvian legislative session indicated separatist deputies should have no difficulty mustering a two-thirds majority to declare independence. A draft declaration pledges allegiance to the key articles of the 1922 constitution of independent Latvia but provides for a transitional period before the assumption of full sovereignty.
The legislature Thursday elected a pro-independence Communist, Anatoliys Gorbunovs, as its chairman by 153 votes to 43. The leader of an anti-independence group of ethnic Russians drew only 20 votes.
Landsbergis, who presented a symbolic flame of freedom to Gorbunovs, told the deputies that the Baltic states are joined together by a single "chain of light. If the chain is broken it means that the spiritual existence of all our nations will be endangered," he said.
Latvia is the most ethnically mixed of the Baltic states, with native Latvians almost outnumbered by Russians and other Slavic immigrants. Opinion polls indicate, however, that up to 40 percent of the Slavic population supports the goal of Latvian independence.
By including a specific mention of a transitional period in their independence declaration, the Latvians are hoping to avoid a Lithuanian-style Soviet economic embargo and to prevent a backlash by the large Russian minority. Gorbunovs warned the deputies that they could expect little help from the West in their dispute with the Kremlin.
"The world is not going to risk what has been achieved in the area of arms control and detente by Mikhail Gorbachev for the sake of 5 million Balts," said Gorbunovs, who has steered a careful course between the demands of the Latvian secessionist movement and his desire to keep lines of communication open with Moscow.
by CNB