The damage caused by the occupation to Latvia is estimated at about 300 billion euros. Those who make calculations and plan to bring them before the world admit that no one and nothing will be able to return the lost and ruined lives of people. However, it considers it important to ensure a full understanding of the occupation of the USSR and wishes to achieve an international assessment of it.
Human and economic damage
LTV met with historian Gati Krūmiņš, who calculates the damage caused to Latvia, in a very symbolic place in Līgatne. Soviet-era secret object with the nickname “nursing home”. The externally visible part of the building at that time was built as a rehabilitation institution. But it hid its true meaning – a large underground bunker, from which the Communist government hoped to continue to rule the Latvian SSR even in the event of a nuclear war. Only then nine meters underground.
“Upon joining the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Latvia became its colony. Yes, because the USSR implemented colonial policy in Latvia. It was the exploitation of both the population and the territory, ”says Gatis Krūmiņš, Doctor of History.
First of all, Latvia lost its population. Even now, not everyone understands this when talking about it in the world and even in Europe.
“We Latvians have lost 17% of our population. When I say this percentage, I say to my foreign colleagues: imagine, in Germany, in France, if you lost 17% of those 70-80 million. How many million would they be? Otherwise, the thousands, almost 60 000, that we have lost during the period of repression may not sound so much against the population of these great nations. But this number is huge if we talk about Latvia, “says Inese Vaidere, Member of the European Parliament (” New Unity “).
Along with deportations, workers from other parts of the USSR were en masse brought to Latvia. The territory was militarized. Also chemically contaminated. Latvia produced a lot, but the money had to be returned to the total Soviet state budget.
“I could also name the amount – it is 16 billion rubles that were poured into the USSR during the occupation, but it will not say much. But if I say that a fifth of all income flowed to the USSR and did not return, then that is what I can tell you with complete confidence. So imagine – a fifth of the gross product that was produced in Latvia went to the USSR! ” points Krūmiņš.
In addition, the researchers add to the expenses for the maintenance of the occupying military-industrial complex and the State Security Committee. As a result, only about 60% of what was produced in Latvia remained in Latvia.
All in all, Latvia’s losses are around 300 billion euros. This is approximately the same as Latvia’s current budget revenue over a 30-year period. According to Gatas Krūmiņš, the losses for all three Baltic countries together could be approximately 800-900 billion euros.
“If before the occupation a lot and reasonably compares the quality of life, the standard of living in Finland and Latvia, then in the nineties we were just like two worlds. And it is precisely due to the communal policy of the USSR that resources were mainly drained to the USSR, to the satisfaction of their ambitions and also to militarization. So what we had left over was what we managed, ”says the historian.
Agreed to calculate the loss
The Ministers of Justice of all three Baltic States have agreed that the losses caused by the occupation should be calculated and that they should be recovered. That was more than five years ago.
The current Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns (New Conservative Party) believes that demanding compensation from Russia is legal and mandatory. Progress in preparing the joint Baltic calculations is not fast, but the work is underway and the result will be.
“I do not predict what form it will take. But in the next three years, I think – it will turn out in one form or another as it happens. We can assess at what point and how to bill the occupying state or its heir. It was one situation 10 years ago. At the moment, for example, after the USSR’s heir is beginning to try to regain its influence by military means in the same territory – the invasion of Georgia, the invasion of Ukraine and now even closer incorporation of Belarus into the legal system – all this suggests that the international community could take into account these studies.
And maybe that result would be different in this situation than 10-20 years ago, ”says Bordāns.
Three solutions
Vaidere points to three solutions in world practice:
- “One is restitution – restoring the status quo before this occupation. It is hardly possible.
- The second is possible compensation. Given that Russia is currently an aggressive and very poor country, we can hardly expect any compensation.
- But the third is the so-called satisfaction, or to some extent satisfaction, reconciliation, when the occupying power or the perpetrator apologizes for what has been done. And perhaps this would be such a good option. But that doesn’t seem possible at the moment. “
According to Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs (“New Unity”), it would only make sense to move forward in the case of damage caused by occupation when all arguments have been fully considered and honed, and if Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia do so together.
“We, all three countries, are in the same position. I don’t think that any kind of solo moves here would be both legally and politically correct, ”Rinkēvičs points out.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that there are three ways forward:
- direct transnational negotiations. Russia is unlikely to agree to them.
- UN International Court of Justice in The Hague. There, too, there is a solution to be problematic without Russia’s consent.
- UN General Assembly. There, however, only a resolution adopted by the Security Council would be legally binding on Russia. But there, Russia has a veto.
“It would be more realistic to talk about a UN-level discussion at the UN General Assembly. But here, too, let us not forget that we, the three Baltic States, would then have to convince the majority of the UN countries. And it’s not as self-evident as it seems to each other: we know everything here, how then are we not understood in Africa, Asia or Latin America? This is, of course, a huge diplomatic resource.
Let’s be realistic – this is not a matter of days, months or even a year. It may take decades, ”admits Rinkēvičs.
But no matter how long it takes, it is considered important to raise the issue of the damage caused by the occupation again and again every year and in different formats.
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