Lookback at the Event

Unexpectedly on the morning of 3 August 1974, a press release came through from Moscow announcing that the Australian Government had recognized the de jure incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union.

Last Friday on 7 February, people interested in finding out about this little-known historical event gathered in the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia to hear how the Baltic protests in Australia and globally led to a constitutional crisis in Australia and the reversal of this decision. Looking back, we now realize that, had these protests not been successful, the result could have negatively affected the Baltic States’ road to renewed independence.

Valda Liepiņa (Chair of the Association of the Museum) shared her memories of the events and the former President of Latvia (08.07.2019 –08.07.2023) Egils Levits gave his analysis of these unique events from an international legal viewpoint.