As might be expected from the scrappy little countries whose independence already has been recognized by more than 40 nations, the three Baltic states Friday treated long-awaited diplomatic recognition from the Soviet Union as simply their due.
But satisfaction with the decision Friday by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviets' new State Council to recognize Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as sovereign nations was mixed with the knowledge that the hardest work - putting food on the shelves and disentangling the three countries from the bog of Soviet central planning - is still ahead.Estonia's leaders said Friday night that Soviet recognition frees Estonia to sign real economic agreements with individual Soviet republics as well as with the union, and to begin negotiating withdrawal of several hundred thousand Soviet troops stationed in the region.
"We can negotiate now without fear of unwelcome entanglements," said Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Marju Lauristin. "We can have real negotiations about all military and economic questions. They can't use the old tactic of trying to deal with us as a politically dependent republic. Our position is now quite different, and we are satisfied."
Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis called the decision of the Soviets' day-old State Council "a very joyful and positive event, not only for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, but also for the Soviet Union and the entire international community." An adviser to Lands-bergis said negotiations on troop withdrawal would be Lithuania's "top priority."
Latvia's President Anatolijs Gorbunovs said at a news conference that the two most pressing issues to be tackled were the removal of Soviet troops from Latvian soil - a process he said could take more than two years - and the establishment of a new economic relationship, the news agency Reuter reported.
Gorbunovs said Latvia's other immediate priorities were to ensure the safety of its inhabitants by forming its own police force, border guards and "interior army."
The practical business of weaning themselves from the Soviet Union already has begun, but the process will be complicated and long, and the Baltic states are in a hurry. All three countries are tied to the Soviet power grid, to the rail system and to the union's antiquated and inadequate communications network.
Fast modernization of communications and creation of a modern banking system are seen by Baltic leaders as essential if their economies are to begin wobbling toward health. The Estonian transportation minister will begin talks next week with his Soviet counterpart to discuss transferring control of the Soviet rail system into Estonian hands.
The Estonian government's timetable - known as the "three times three" plan - targets three months to set up a working legislature and settle the question of citizenship for Estonia's large Russian minority, and three years to achieve economic stability.
The economies of all three republics are heavily dependent on Soviet trade and raw materials. The Baltic states said Friday they would honor existing bilateral economic agreements signed in the past year with individual Soviet republics. Lithuanian officials said this week they want to see Lithuania function as a bridge for the West's contact with the huge Soviet market.
The Baltic governments also will have to resolve compensation questions for the hundreds of Soviet-built factories that the new nations have declared their own in the past two weeks.
The most sensitive talks are likely to be on the matter of troop withdrawal. In proportion to its population, the Baltic region is the most heavily militarized in Europe. Troop numbers are highest in Latvia, where the Soviet Union's Baltic command is based. Troop levels in Estonia are the lowest of the three Baltic states - at about 60,000, Estonian officials said.
But large Soviet air and naval bases have caused serious environmental damage, including groundwater polluted by aviation fuel dumping, radioactive contamination from factories related to production of nuclear-powered submarines and the destruction of former national parks that have been subjected to decades of target practice by Soviet bombers.
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More Soviet news
- Less than a day after it was founded, the new State Council emerged Friday as the country's most powerful body. (See Page A2.)
- Cuba has added cooking fuel to a long list of rationed goods as the communist nation braces for a possible cutoff of Soviet oil.
- The family of KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky, one of the highest-ranking KGB officers to serve Western intelligence, arrived in London from Moscow on Friday, ending six years of separation enforced by Soviet security forces.
- The Soviet Union will allow international atomic energy experts to inspect its Chernobyl-type reactors for nuclear safety.
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A look at the new Soviet government
State Council
The highest government body, led by the Soviet president and consisting of the leaders of all the republics. Coordinates decisions on questions of domestic and foreign policy and will oversee defense, security, law enforcement and foreign affairs. Its decisions are legally binding.
Interrepublic Economic Committee
Coordinates the national economy, including reforms. Chairman to be named by the president with the agreement of the State council.
Supreme Soviet
The highest legislative body, with two chambers, the Council of the Republics and the Council of the Union. It decides changes in the Soviet Constitution, accepts states into the new union, hears the reports of the president on the most important domestic and foreign issues, confirms the union budget, declares war and conclude peace. The Council of the Republics decides on the organization and activities of union organs and ratifies and annuls international treaties of the union. Laws adopted by the council of the Union must be approved by the Council of the Republics.
Powers Left to The Republics
The legislatures of the republics may suspend local laws adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR that contradict their own constitutions. All republics must approve any changes in the Soviet Constitution that are passed by the Supreme Soviet.