Context: 

Estonia’s Prime Minister, Lithuania’s culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament were put on a wanted list by the Russian Police.

Baltic States Face Legal Backlash for Demolishing Soviet Monuments

• The Baltic states officials were incriminated on the grounds of “destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers” and  “desecration of historical memory”
• These acts are punishable by a 5-year prison term under the Russian criminal code.
• Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have demolished most of their Soviet-era monuments, including those commemorating Soviet soldiers killed in World War Two since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Baltic states

• The Three Nations of  Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania situated  in the northeastern region of Europe on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea collectively are called the Baltic states.
• Neighbors: They are surrounded on the west and north by the Baltic Sea, on the east by Russia, on the southeast by Belarus, and on the southwest by Poland and an exclave of Russia (kaliningrad) 

Political Map of Baltic States

• Baltic States Soviet History

  • The Baltic States  were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 by  the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union immediately before the outbreak of World War II.
  • 1941-1944: Occupied by Nazi Germany 
  • 1944-1991: They were reoccupied by the Red Army and Soviet rule was re-established as part of post world war 2 negotiations in the Yalta Conference.
  • 1980s: A massive campaign of civil resistance against Soviet rule, known as the Singing revolution began.
  • Independence: The Soviet Union recognized the independence of three Baltic states on 6 September 1991 and the Baltics became the first group to secede from the Soviet Union

• Baltic States and Western Association

• • All the three countries are members of NATO (since 2004) the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. 
  • Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania abandoned the Russian ruble in favor of new domestic currencies (the kroon, lats, and litas)  respectively
  • Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania each adopted the euro as its common currency in 2011, 2014, and 2015, respectively.

News Source: Hindustan times