The depth and intensity of the transformation in Eastern and Central Europe in the 1980's and 1990's took most diplomats and political commentators by surprise. Needless to say, European politics now looks completely different from how it did during the stale years of the Cold War. This volume is an in-depth analysis of one aspect of the transformation - namely the Baltic States' struggle to regain the statehood they had lost in the Soviet occupation in June 1940. It analyses the claim of illegality of the Soviet occupation, arguments about possible prescription, the legal consequences of...