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March 13, 1990
“Toward a free Lithuania”
For the Lithuanians to declare their independence from the Soviet Union took enormous courage. But actually to achieve their independence will require a good deal of patient hard bargaining yet. This remains a David and Goliath struggle in which tiny Lithuanian, armed with little more than a moral claim to freedom, is challenging the might of the USSR.
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April 18, 1990
Warren Osmond. “Time to put pressure on Gorbachev”
In two statements issued last month, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Evans, has already put Australia at the forefront of Western protests. By reiterating our recognition of the “legal right of the Baltic States to exist as independent States,” and by welcoming “any development which lends reality to the Lithuanian independence we already legally recognize,” he came within a whisker of recognizing the Landsbergis Government.
Warren Osmond (1947–2000), Australian journalist, who served as a foreign and diplomatic editor of the Sydney Morning Herald (1987–94) and editor of Campus Review (1996–2000).
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April 23, 1990
A. R. Mednis (Baltic Council of Australia). “Lithuania deserves our support”
One would have thought that the Herald would have had a better rounded appreciation of the present position in the Baltic… This is so much more than a game of “bluff and dare” for the Lithuanians – it is now a fight for the political and economic survival.
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April 23, 1990
Peter Hastings. “Offer that‘s a relief to the US”
The Lithuanian crisis is not over yet and Mr Gorbachev, a man of political surprise, may try to convince Soviet colleagues and critics that the Baltic States no longer matter, that they can secede without harm to the Soviet Union.
But one doubts it. The time is not yet.
Peter Dunstan Hastings (1920–1990), Australian journalist and editor of Consolidated Press’s Bulletin (1962–64), and foreign affairs writer for News Ltd’s Australian (1966–70) and John Fairfax & Sons Ltd’s Sydney Morning Herald (1970–74, 1976–90).
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April 24, 1990
Patrick O‘Brien. “Lithuania: seduced and abandoned”
When they made their initial pleas, the Lithuanian government and Parliament were not seeking military or economic aid from the West. They were seeking something we seem no longer to comprehend, namely, moral support in the form of three simple words: “We recognize you.” Had these words been uttered by Mrs Thatcher and Mr Bush, even sotto voce, most other Western leaders would have followed suit, including our own Prime Minister…
Patrick O‘Brien, an associate professor of politics at the University of Western Australia and a specialist in Soviet history and politics.