Ambassador Māris Selga commemorates the 84th anniversary of the Welles Declaration

On July 23, 2024, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to the United States of America Māris Selga commemorated the 84th anniversary of the Welles Declaration by laying flowers at the final resting place of the 11th U.S. Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Minister of Defense of Estonia Hanno Pevkur and U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim reminded of the long-standing position of the US not to recognize the annexation and incorporation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union in 1940.

On July 23, 1940, acting U.S. Secretary of State Sumner Wells issued an official statement on the US position to not recognize the annexation and incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union, pointing to the right of self-determination and territorial integrity of the Baltic States. This statement became the Welles Declaration and is a U.S. foreign policy document that formed the international policy of non-recognition of the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union. The USA continued to de iure recognize Latvia throughout the period of occupation by the Soviet Union, during which time it supported the work of exiled Latvian diplomats in the USA, which in 1991 enabled the de facto restoration of Latvia's independence.

Ambassador Māris Selga also recognized the work of U.S. diplomat Loy W. Henderson at the U.S. Embassy in Latvia and his contribution to the Welles Declaration by laying flowers at his final resting place in Rock Creek Cemetery.