(TibetanReview.net, Jun17’26) – Members of parliament from the three Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania issued a joint statement calling on the international community to renew and elevate its support for Tibetan freedom ahead of the coming into force on Jul 1 of China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress law, reported Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Jun 16. The law is seen to be aimed at criminally marginalising Tibetan and other ethnic minority languages tp promote Mandarin learning and usage throughout the People’s Republic of China.
The joint statement was issued at a Tibet conference hosted by Latvian Member of Parliament (MP) Juris Viļums, Chair of the Group for the Support of Tibet, held in Latvia’s capital Riga. The keynote speaker was long-time Tibet advocate Richard Gere, Chair of the ICT.
The statement has initially been signed by 18 MPs from the Baltic states – nine from Latvia, seven from Lithuania, and two from Estonia – with many more expected to join in the coming weeks. Politicians, civil society representatives and the international Tibet movement leaders attended the conference in a show of Baltic solidarity, the report said.
Gere has called on European democracies to act decisively for the rights of Tibetans. He has emphasised parallels between the historical experiences of the Baltic peoples under decades of communist authoritarian rule and the ongoing struggle of the Tibetan people for cultural survival and self-determination.
ICT President Tencho Gyatso has referred to China’s unrelenting campaign of forced assimilation in Tibet and expressed gratitude to Juris Vilums “for his leadership in facilitating the conference and to all the parliamentarians who are shining the light of truth and justice for Tibet.”
Tsering Yangkey, London-based Representative of the Central Tibetan Administration has called the gathering “a powerful Baltic solidarity for Tibet’s just cause consistent with the Baltic people’s unwavering admiration and love for His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.”
Dutch Member of Parliament Jan Paternotte and Member of the European Parliament Dainius Zalimas have asked the representatives at the gathering to actively promote the demand for an EU Special Representative for Tibet in their national parliaments, taking a cue from the Apr 2025 move made in the Dutch parliament.
The focus of the conference was China’s Law on Ethnic Unity and Progress, which the participants have described as a serious turning point that codifies the forced assimilation of Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Mongolians, among others, in violation of China’s own constitution and its international human rights commitments.
The European Parliament on Apr 30 passed a resolution, condemning the law.