We enjoyed your Jan. 7 editorial congratulating president-elect Valdas Adamkus upon his victory in Lithuania.
We thank the Tribune for its confidence in President Adamkus and for encouraging him to carry out his difficult mission to lighten the plight of the Lithuanian people. We are confident his unique abilities will effectively advance Lithuania into the next century.
Your Jan. 13 editorial “Tread lightly in the Baltics” deeply disappointed us, however. Your opinion that to accept Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into NATO “would clearly be a grave mistake” and “would certainly antagonize Russia” reminds us of Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain. He not only signed the 1938 Munich Pact but signed away certain areas of Czechoslo-vakia to Hitler in the hope of preserving “peace in our time.” Instead, such appease-ment led to World War II with all its atrocities and almost 50 years of Cold War.
The German-Soviet Pact of 1939 gave Russia the right to occupy the Baltics while Germany and Russia parti-tioned Poland. To add insult to injury, President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill later sold out the Baltics to “Uncle Joe” Stalin in 1945.
If not for these “agreements,” these proud peoples with their own cultures and languages would undoubtedly be part of NATO by now. Finally, some 50 years later, they deserve some peace under NATO protection. As for the cost of incorporating them into the alliance’s command structure, we waste money on less important things. This move, however, would be a great investment toward stability in the geographic center of Europe.
Will the political leaders of the world examine their consciences and make the right decision to avoid further enslavement of the Baltic peoples during the next century? In our opinion, NATO membership will most effectively ensure and protect the Baltic countries from future injustices and keep peace in the region.
