CIA • 1989

NID: USSR: BALTIC NATIONALISTS PRESS AHEAD

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826754 Special Analysis USSR: Baltic Nationalists Press Ahead Baltic nationalists and republic party sympathizers in Lithuania and Estonia are testing the limits of President Gorbacher's reform campaign and moving to institutionalize republic sovereignty. By putting into place daring reform programs and cutting organizational ties to Moscow, they hope to establish de facto independence as a prelude to a push for outright separation. Moscow will not allow the Baltic republics to secede but is prepared to grant them wide latitude in shaping local autonomy...