§ Mr. Maxwell-HyslopTo ask the Prime Minister whether she will request President Gorbachev, during his forthcoming visit, to return to the national treasuries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania the gold reserves deposited by those countries with the Bank of England for safe keeping when still independent, which national reserves were handed over to the country which had invaded them by the United Kingdom Government in 1969.
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 5 December 1988]: The gold of the former central banks of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia held in the Bank of England was not transferred to the USSR but its value was taken into account in the practical settlement of claims arising from the incorporation of these states into the USSR, under the Anglo-Soviet claims agreement of 5 January 1968. The proceeds of the subsequent sale of gold were used to meet the compensation claims of British property holders and investors whose assets had been seized or became worthless. The Anglo-Soviet claims agreement did not, of course, affect our continued non-recognition de jure of the forcible incorporation of the Baltic states into the USSR.