Baltic Appeal

The Baltic Appeal (Estonian: Balti apell, Latvian: Baltijas harta or Baltiešu memorands, Lithuanian: 45 pabaltijiečių memorandumas) was a public letter to the secretary-general of the United Nations, Soviet Union, East and West Germany, and signatories of the Atlantic Charter by 48 (45 listed below) Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian citizens. Sent on 23 August 1979, the 40th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, the appeal demanded public disclosure of the pact and its secret protocols, annulment of the pact ab initio, and restoration of the independence of the Baltic states, then occupied by the Soviet Union.

The appeal, including signatures, was published in the Hearings Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Vol. XIII, 96th Congress, 2nd session, pp. 90–94, and in the Congressional Record, September 28, 1979, pp. S13722-23. It constituted the basis for the European Parliament's resolution of 13 January 1983 in support of its demands. In Soviet-controlled territory, it was widespread through samizdat.

This appeal was also supported by Andrei Sakharov and eleven Moscow-based human rights activists: Yelena Bonner, Sophia Kalistratova, Malva Landa, Victor Nekipelov, Tatyana Osipova, Ivan Kovalyov, Leonard Ternovsky, Irina Zholkovskaya, Tatyana Velikanova, Alexander Lavut, and Yury Belov. Source: Chronicle of Current Events, Issue 54 (1980).

Signatories:

• MRP-AEG

• Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2006: Fact sheet on the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and its consequences