Britain to Repay $160 Million to Baltic Republics
<i> Reuters</i>
LONDON —
Britain promised Wednesday to compensate the Baltic states for gold worth about $160 million that it held when the three countries were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.
The decision was a timely boost for the cash-strapped republics, whose independence was recognized by Britain last August.
Prime Minister John Major spoke to reporters after a meeting with Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis.
Britain had refused to acknowledge Soviet claims on the gold and sold it in 1967.
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