The Referendum of 14 June 1992 “On Unconditional and Urgent Withdrawal of the Former Ussr Army from the Territory of the Republic of Lithuania and Res Cover Image

1992 m. birželio 14 d. referendumas Dėl buvusios SSRS kariuomenės besąlygiško ir neatidėliotino išvedimo iš Lietuvos Respublikos teritorijos 1992 meta
The Referendum of 14 June 1992 “On Unconditional and Urgent Withdrawal of the Former Ussr Army from the Territory of the Republic of Lithuania and Res

Author(s): Juozas Žilys
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Published by: Mykolas Romeris University
Keywords: Constitution; constitutional process; referendum

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims at revealing the key legal and political factors that determined the organization and holding of the referendum on unconditional and urgent withdrawal of the former USSR army from the territory of the Republic of Lithuania and restitution of damage to Lithuania. It is established that the main factor was that the Supreme Council-Reconstituent Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic adopted provisions on the status of the occupation army and was constant in seeking to ensure the sovereignty of the state of Lithuania throughout its territory. The position of the nations, parliaments and governments of the Republics of Estonia and Latvia was yet another circumstance that the organizers of the referendum relied upon. Their position was aimed at ensuring that as a result of negotiations, the foreign military forces return to dislocation places in its own territory. Retrospective view on the phenomena and facts of the state’s internal and foreign politics in 1991-1992 makes it impossible not to notice that negotiations with the USSR and later, with the Russian Federation, took place in a complicated political arena. While Lithuania was seeking dynamism in negotiations, the other party was finding various excuses to impede dynamic actions and thus to delay positive agreements. Taking due regard to the situation, it was believed that a decision adopted by the Nation would speed up the negotiations on foreign state’s armed forces. The paper addresses the relations between the referendum and the constitutional process of drafting the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. At the same time as the referendum was initiated, the referendum of 23 May 1992 on the restoration of the institution of the President of the Republic of Lithuania by adopting certain laws was already announced. The suggestion to hold both of the referenda on one day, i.e., on the 23 of May, deepened political contrapositions on the directions of the constitutional development. The constitutional discourse also notes that the parliamentary polemics on the referendum were also one of the factors attributing to the adoption of the Constitutional act of 8 June 1992 on the refusal of the Lithuanian Republic to join the post-Soviet Eastern unions. This was established as a provision of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, that there may be no military bases or army units of Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent states, or its constituent states in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania.

  • Issue Year: 18/2011
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 467-496
  • Page Count: 30
  • Language: Lithuanian