Armies, Smugglers, and Borders: Part III. Withdrawal Begins

When military command was transferred from the Soviet Baltic Military District to the Russian Northwest Group, chaos evolved within the Russian ranks. The free flow of smuggled materiale could not be prevented. Some Russian soldiers sought assistance from the Latvian government to obtain assignments elsewhere. Precisely how many Soviet/Russian soldiers were based in the three Baltic states at any given time is an unknown quantity. The occupation began less than two months after the 1939 non-aggression pact was signed. On 5 October 1939 Soviet representatives requested and received consent from the three Baltic states' governments to station a Soviet "shield force" in the region to protect against a possible Nazi invasion. On 17 June 1940 (the same day the Soviet authorities told their newest provinces to adopt "favorable leadership") a massive influx of soldiers and weapons began. By 1942 an estimated 650,000 Soviet soldiers patrolled the Baltic republics. During the 1990s estimates varied from 100,000 to 150,000 (with 130,000 as the most cited) soldiers. The estimates for each republic as of 1993 were: Estonia: 23,000 - 25,000; Latvia: 45,000 - 48,000; Lithuania: 43,000 - 45,000. The Latvian defense ministry estimated that Russian Army demands on resources consumed almost 39.9% of available housing space and other facilities throughout the country including continued operations at the old BMD headquarters in Riga.

Negotiations to withdraw Russian troops began in 1992. Russia pledged to begin the process by March of that year. By that date only forty-nine soldiers had gone. Latvian defense minister Tavavs Judzis called the event a "theatrical performance" and said: "If it keeps on like this, we will not be alive long enough to see the last soldier go". At the next round of negotiations the rules obviously changed. Russia demanded base rights, that Latvia's government pay to house the displaced soldiers, and the retired Soviet military population in the country could keep their homes and would be allowed to obtain Latvian citizenship. None of these requests was previously stipulated, and the Latvian delegation could give no definitive response. At the third round of negotiations more demands were added. Russia wanted Latvia to accept any Russian (military or otherwise) as a citizen. Again no definitive answer was given, but a subcommittee was created to examine the issues.

On 22 May 1992 Russian defense minister Pavel Grachev reiterated the demands of the April 1992 Baltic/Russian negotiations and said the army he commanded: "would not allow the honor and dignity of any Russian to be insulted on the territory of any state, and we will suppress armed attacks on military facilities in the most decisive ways - right up to shooting to kill". Six days later when the Latvian "Home Guard" stopped a Russian convoy in pursuance of agreements that banned deployment of new soldiers to the Baltic republics, Mr. Grachev was less adamant. No shots were fired to solve the brief standoff: The 1500-soldier convoy obtained the nedessary clearance, and normal traffic checks resumed.

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