VILNIUS 's The Lithuanian Parliament on Tuesday adopted a declaration, "On the Assessment of the Outcome of the End of Word War II in Europe," urging Russia to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.
"We cannot call a victory something that brought further occupation to other countries, causing countless losses and trampling the expectations for democracy," the declaration read.
Parliamentary Speaker Arturas Paulauskas said that he hopes Russia would someday recognize the Soviet occupation, though thinks this may take a long time.
In his words, such a decision "can hardly be expected today or tomorrow" but statements by various states' parliaments 's including the United States 's urging Russia to do this "help Russian citizens think and Russian politicians make decisions."
"The first step towards warm, good relations is acknowledgement that this happened," Paulauskas said.
