Gorbachevs proposition would require a 75percent approval vote. followed by a 5year waiting period. before any independence proposal could be implemented. On the surface this may appear to be a positive step. but the people of the Baltic States sense a trap. They know that immigration patterns over the past 45 years. including the influx of ethnic Russians. have changed the demographics of their countries. and that these changes would make it difficult to reach the 75 percent hurdle. More important. they remember that their countries were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union and and have been illegally occupied since the Second World War. So why should they agree to more obstacles and delaying tactics?
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immigration