§ Baroness Coxasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will raise with the Soviet Government the recognition of the right of the people of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to self-determination, in the light of President Gorbachev's statement at the United Nations in December 1988 that freedom of choice is a universal principle which allows of no exceptions; and whether they will seek to discuss the status of these territories at the forthcoming Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Brabazon of Tara)We support the right of the Baltic peoples to decide their own future, and have welcomed the considerable progress made in the past two years.
In view of recent developments in Lithuania, we now think it vital that restraint should be shown on all sides, and that progress should be made through 1246WA dialogue between the Soviet authorities and the Lithuanians. We attach particular importance to the repeated statements by the Soviet leadership that there is no question of use of force. We have made clear our concerns to the Soviet authorities.
We shall give consideration nearer the time as to whether it would be appropriate to raise these issues at future meetings of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.