Proclamation 5209

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

It has been over 40 years since invading Soviet armies, in collusion with the Nazi regime, overran the three independent Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and forcibly incorporated them into Moscow's expanding empire. The new regime then ordered the illegal deportation, murder, and imprisonment of tens of thousands of Baltic peoples whose only "crime" was to resist foreign tyranny and to defend their liberties and freedoms.

Oppression and persecution continue to this day, but despite this long dark night of injustice, the brave men and women of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have never abandoned the battle for their national independence and God-given rights. Although the full measure of their struggle and sacrifice is screened by the oppression and censorship under which they live, the friends and families of the Baltic peoples all over the world are aware of their heroic endeavors and aspirations.

Their peaceful demands for their rights command the admiration of everyone who loves and honors freedom. All the people of the United States of America share the just aspirations of the Baltic nations for national independence, and we uphold their right to determine their own national destiny free of foreign domination. The United States has never recognized the forcible incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union, and it will not do so in the future. The Congress of the United States, by Senate Joint Resolution 296, has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation for the observance of June 14, 1984, as "Baltic Freedom Day."

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 1984, as Baltic Freedom Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate remembrances and ceremonies and to reaffirm their commitment to the principles of liberty and freedom for all oppressed people.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:35 a.m., June 15, 1984]