Aggression by the Soviet Union and the occupation of Lithuania in 1940-1990. Resistance to the Soviet occupation: the 16 February 1949 Declaration of the Council of the Lithuanian freedom fight movement

Abstract

One can note that there is a sufficient uniformity ofviews and state practice on the assessment of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the illegality of the 1940 annexation and the legal continuity of the Baltic States.1 However, recalling these issues helps to understand the development of constitutionalism in Lithuania, i.e. why the Soviet constitutions and legal legacy are not considered to be a part of the constitutional traditions of Lithuania and why the continuity of the Republic of Lithuania has been the legal ground to restore its independence in 1990. One more reason to recall the legal assessment of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania are the attempts to deny the Soviet crimes, in particular from the side of the Russian Federation, which claims to continue the international legal personality of the USSR. One of the most striking examples is that, disregarding the provisions of the 1991 Treaty with Lithuania on the Fundamentals of Interstate Relations,2 since approximately 2000 Russia has taken a line on justification of the 1940 Soviet seizure of the Baltic States.