Baltic States – CIS, Law and Regulations, Legislation, Russia

As informed persons told the Interfax news agency, the decision on this matter could be ''analogue to a similar ruling on Crimea''.

As reported, Russian Duma members Evgeny Fedorov and Anton Roman from the ruling United Russia party have turned to Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika with a request to assess the legitimacy of the State Council of the USSR's decision to recognize the independence of the Baltic states in 1991.

The lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party believe that the State Council was an unconstitutional authority, and its decisions caused ''great damage to the sovereignty, security and defense capability of the country''.

The State Council of the USSR was created in 1991, and during its first meeting recognized the independence of the three Baltic states.

In the letter, the Russian MPs claim that the State Council was an illegitimate authority.

The MPs go on to say that they interpret these decisions as ''criminal acts and especially dangerous crimes against the state'', and that they should be classified as treason.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says that Russian Prosecutor General Office's investigation into the legality of recognition of independence of the Baltic States is provocation and adds that Moscow lately has been acting according to its own rules on the international arena instead of following the accepted international norms, writes LETA/ELTA.

"It is a political, moral, and legal absurdity. It calls for political explanations and should be treated as provocation to say the least," the minister told Elta in a telephone interview.

According to Linkevicius, Lithuania is currently considering how it should react to Moscow's actions. He does not rule out the possibility that Lithuania could address its international partners over the events in Russia.

"I believe that the opinion of our colleagues (from Latvia, Estonia, European Union – Elta) could be very similar because the situation is rather non-standard," he said.

In the words of the foreign minister, Russia lately has been acting according to its own rules on the international arena instead of sticking to international norms.