Ten years without communism

The world's media marked the 10th anniversary of a bungled putsch by communist hardliners and the resulting collapse of communism in Moscow on Aug. 19 to 21. As a direct result of this historic event, the Baltic states received international recognition. In September 1991 the USSR officially recognized the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In December the USSR ceased to exist.

March 11, 1990, when Lithuania's Parliament declared independence from the USSR, was the beginning of the end for the Soviet empire. August 1991 spelt the end of the end for what Ronald Reagan famously called the Evil empire. In August 1991, Latvia and Estonia also proclaimed their full independence.

August is a significant month in the Baltics' history. On Aug. 23 the Balts commemorate Black Ribbon Day to mark the secret Stalin-Hitler agreement better known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which was signed that day in 1939. This was a document that basically consigned the Baltics to almost 50 years of Soviet rule.

Aug. 23, 1989 was an extraordinary day. Some 2 million people from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia linked hands and formed a living chain, the "Baltic Way," from Vilnius via Riga to Tallinn.

The Balts paved the way for the democratization of Russia. They played a significant role in ending the Cold War, thus contributing to the security of Western civilization, to which the Baltic sates have culturally always belonged.

The Balts should not be shy. They need to remind the world of these facts - although they will make little impression on the Kremlin, where imperial nostalgia still prevails. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia remain outside NATO only because of the consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

To remind Germany is a good card in the ongoing game with Berlin, well known to be "Baltic skeptic" in the NATO enlargement issue. Germany is a democratic state and should be more sensitive to its historical guilt.

The 10th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union is an occasion for celebration. But much of the Russian media does not see it that way. Russia's state-owned RTR TV just screened a documentary about "the 15 former Soviet republics." They started with Lithuania, which with its anti-Soviet resistance and demonstrations was the main troublemaker for the Kremlin's rulers.

"It's Europe. There are very few Soviet traces left in Lithuania," the narrator said. Many visitors arriving from Russia and other former Soviet republics are astonished at how "Western" the Baltic countries seem.

This is not surprising given that for centuries the Baltics have been part of Western Europe. The Baltic states are on the threshold of membership in NATO and the European Union, which will finally guarantee the security and welfare they deserve. The Balts are coming home to the West, the doors of which were opened in August 1991.