Latvia Declares Sovereignty
Latvian SSR Supreme Soviet, Declaration on the National Sovereignty of Latvia. July 28, 1989
Occupied by Soviet forces in 1940 under the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Latvia had spent nearly five decades as an unwilling member of the USSR. Glasnost gave Latvians the opening they had long awaited. Galvanized by the Latvian Popular Front and emboldened by the Baltic chain of August 1989, the republic's Supreme Soviet declared the sovereignty of Latvian law over Soviet law in mid-1989 — the first legal step on the road to full independence.
Original Source: Latvian: Latvijas PSR Augstākās Padomes Deklarācija “Par Latvijas PSR suverenitāti” (also cited as “Deklarācija par Latvijas valsts suverenitāti”), 28 July 1989. Published in Latvijas PSR Augstākās Padomes un Valdības Ziņotājs, 1989, Nr. 32, 452. p. Russian (parallel official publication): Декларация Верховного Совета Латвийской ССР “О государственном суверенитете Латвии”, 28 July 1989. Published in Ведомости Верховного Совета и Правительства Латвийской ССР, 1989, № 32, ст. 452.
For seven centuries, Latvians have been subjugated to ruthless national and social oppression, the rights of the Latvian nation to original development and national self-determination have been brutally violated. The Latvian nation has, however, survived, endured, preserving its uniqueness, its language, and its national culture. The struggle of the workers of Latvia for social emancipation, ethnic equality, and self-determination created the opportunity in the years 1917-1920 to establish a Soviet national loyalty, but afterwards an independent democratic Republic, which was recognized by Soviet Russia under Lenin's rule, as well as many other nations of the world.
In the year 1940, supported by the secret protocols of the Non-aggression Treaty of 23 August 1939, which was signed by Germany and the Soviet Union, and as a result of the illegitimate Stalinist foreign policy, the national sovereignty of the Republic of Latvia was lost and it was incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Stalinism and the totalitarian administrative command that ensued resulted in the decline of the economy and culture of Latvia, ecological crisis, the deformation of ethnic relations, and the devaluation of universal human values.
The Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR, based on the fact that,
- the non-recognition of political, economic, and cultural sovereignty for the Latvian people has created unfavorable circumstances for its future existence;
- that all individuals and nations have inalienable rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, social progress, and improvement of the standard of living,
- that in accordance with the standards of contemporary international law, which have also been recognized by the Soviet Union as legally binding, all nations have the right to self-determination, and according to these rights, they are free to determine their political status and free to secure their own economic, social, and cultural development;
- that all nations are free to manage their own natural wealth and resources in order to reach this goal, and that no nation can be denied the right to the means of existence belonging to it;
- that a way out of the current unfavorable demographic, ecological, and economic situation in the Latvian SSR is possible only in the event that true national sovereignty is renewed, according to the will of the people of Latvia, declares:
From this moment on, following the adoption of this declaration, the Latvian SSR will develop under conditions of true national sovereignty as understood by national and international law.
The sovereignty of the Latvian SSR is unified and indivisible. The people of Latvia independently gain legislative, executive, and legal authority in its territory, which guarantees prosperity not only for Latvians, but also for all national and ethnic groups living within the territory of Latvia.
The land, including its minerals, forests, waters, and other natural resources, is the Republic's national wealth, which belongs to the people of Latvia.
The national status of the Latvian SSR within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is determined through treaty relations; the new legal status of the Latvian SSR must be confirmed through legislation in the Constitution of the USSR and of the Latvian SSR, in new USSR and Latvian SSR laws (regarding citizenship, property rights, etc.), in Soviet legislative amendments and supplements.
Latvian SSR law is recognized as having superseding authority within the territory of the Latvian SSR. USSR laws become binding in the territory of the Latvian SSR only upon their ratification by the highest organs of authority in the Latvian SSR.
Latvian SSR relations with other nations are founded on the basis of agreements.
The Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR invites all the people of Latvia to unite on the basis of the principles in this declaration, in order to transform our Republic into a truly sovereign and legal nation.
Source: Reprinted with permission of the American Latvian Association. Translators: Tija Karklis and Martins Janis Zvaners