Diplomatic History
Latvian-American relationship began on 10 December 1918 when the U.S. Senate passed the Resolution No. 379 supporting the secession of the three Baltic States from Russia. "All these nations must be free and independent, since the Baltic Sea coast belongs to them and this makes their independence important for the future peace and freedom of the world."
Diplomatic relations between Latvia and the United States of America were first established on 28 July 1922, when the U.S. Government recognized the Republic of Latvia.
Little known is the fact that during the inter-war years, a number of prominent Americans visited or worked in Latvia. President Herbert Hoover visited Latvia in the early 1930s and wrote a laudatory article on Latvia's development. John F. Kennedy, while studying in London, visited Latvia and other East European countries on the eve of the Second World War. George F. Kennan, later to become an expert on Russia, was first stationed as a diplomat in Latvia during these years.
Since then Latvian-American diplomatic relations have played a unique role in Latvia's diplomatic history. The declaration by the U.S. Secretary of State Sumner Wells, issued on June 23, 1940 established the U.S. Baltic policy and ensured that the Baltic diplomatic missions continued to operate in Washington during the Soviet occupation. The Latvian mission in Washington was the only Latvia's foreign mission that continued to function throughout the years of its occupation. The United States of America never established official relations with the Soviet government in the occupied Latvia, thereby demonstrating its non-recognition policy to the world. The main aim of the Latvian mission in Washington was to continue represent Latvia existent de iure, preserve Latvia's international legal status, fight for Latvia's independence, and carry out an essential informative work - publish declarations, statements and other documents of western nations that refer to Latvia, and provide information from different sources on the state of affairs in the occupied Latvia.
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