Inline videos. See also:Category: Articles with embedded Videos..

Abrene region

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

	The neutrality of this article is disputed.
	Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

Abrene region is a territory of over 1000 square kilometers, currently in the Russian Federation as Pytalovo District of Pskov Oblast, just northeast of Latvia. Due to the fact that the region was controlled by Latvia during interwar period, there is some sentiment in Latvia, about the region's current political jurisdiction.

[edit]

History

This territory was granted to Latvia in 1920 when treaty between Latvia and Soviet Union was signed which recognised the independence of Latvia. In 1944 Latvia was occupied by Soviet Union in the course of the World War II and this territory was detached from Latvian SSR and attached to Russian SFSR. Since then local Latvian population in the territory was changed by Russians. The town of Abrene, largest town in region, was renamed to its earlier Russian name Pytalovo, and other towns were also renamed in Russian. The region became Pytalovo District of Pskov Oblast.

After Latvia regained independence in 1991, the Abrene region remained in Russia, although Latvia continued trying to assert it through diplomatic means. In 1996 Latvia set the issue aside to facilitate Russian recognition of Latvian independence. In 2005 president Vaira Vike-Freiberga said that most likely the border treaty which is planned to be signed soon would forever cede the Abrene region to Russia, this way ending the dispute. This however led to protests by a group called Abrenian Union, which members were once living in Abrene but were eventually forced out. That group demands referendum for the future of Abrene region. Latvian government tries to get payment from Russia to repay costs of nationalised buildings, land and other property in the territory, however. Russian president Vladimir Putin maintains that Latvian wishes to get control of the area are against the spirit of Europe. The region is one of the reasons why Latvian-Russian border treaty is not signed, as Latvians would want the 1920 peace treaty (which granted Abrene region to Latvia) mentioned in it.

[edit]