In October 1988, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, depicts the first signs of political protest shown by the three Baltic States — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — against Moscow.

On 16 November 1988, the Estonian people take to the streets of Tallinn to call for greater independence for Estonia in the Soviet Union.

Am 11. Septembrer 1989, in einem Interview mit dem Nachrichtenmagazin Der Spiegel analysiert der finnische Präsident Mauno Koivisto die Beziehungen zwischen den baltischen Staaten und der Europäischen Gemeinschaft.

On 13 January 1991, Jacques F. Poos, Luxembourg Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Communities, writes a letter to Edward Shevardnadze, Foreign Minister of the USSR, in which he condemns the Soviet attack at the Lithuanian television station in Vilnius.

On 14 January 1991, at an extraordinary meeting of Ministers in Brussels on European Political Cooperation (EPC), the Twelve adopt a joint declaration in which they condemn the Soviet military intervention in Lithuania.

On 15 January 1991, commenting on the Soviet military intervention in Lithuania, the French daily newspaper Le Monde analyses the limits of the Soviet Union’s policy of openness.

On 18 March 1991, the Swedish people take to the streets in Stockholm in support of the independence of the three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).

Born in 1932 in Kaunas, Vytautas Landsbergis, former opponent of the Soviet Communist regime in Lithuania and founder of Sajudis, the pro-independence movement, was President of Lithuania from 1990 to 1992 and Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament from 1992 to 1996. He has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004.

On 9 July 1991, during his meeting with Vytautas Landsbergis, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, Enrique Barón Crespo, President of the European Parliament, guarantees European Community support for Lithuania’s ambition for independence.

On 29 August 1991, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the decision taken by the Twelve to establish diplomatic relations with the Baltic States and to support their rapid integration into international organisations.

Am 20. August 1991, nach dem Putsch der Konservativen in Moskau, kommentiert Alain Peyrefitte in der französischen Tageszeitung Le Figaro die Gründe für Sturz des Präsidenten der UdSSR Michail Gorbatschew.

On 22 August 1991, Boris Yeltsin, President of the Supreme Soviet of Russia, addresses the Russian Parliament in Moscow following the failure of the putsch incited by Soviet military and political leaders against Mikhail Gorbachev.

Following the coup d'état in the Soviet Union, the Foreign Ministers of the European Economic Community, meeting in The Hague on 20 August 1991, decide to suspend the aid granted by the EEC to the USSR until Mikhail Gorbachev is restored as Soviet Head of State.

Dans ses Mémoires, Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, ancien président de l'URSS, commente l'échec de la tentative de putsch organisé en août 1991 par des hauts fonctionnaires de l'État et du Parti communiste soviétique.

Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Außenminister der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, erinnert sich an den Putschversuch in der Sowjetunion und die immer lauter werdenden Forderungen der baltischen Staaten nach Unabhängigkeit.

On 23 August 1991, following the failure of the coup d'état spearheaded by members of the Soviet military and political elite, Mikhail Gorbachev, First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, addresses the Duma, lower house of the Soviet Parliament.

On 27 August 1991, the French daily newspaper Le Monde speculates on the possible collapse of the Soviet Union in the light of the declarations of independence made by several republics and the gradual disintegration of the Communist Party.

Zehn Jahre nach dem Staatsstreich in der Sowjetunion erinnert die französische kommunistische Tageszeitung L’Humanité am 18. August 2001 an die unterschiedlichen Reaktionen der westlichen Mächte auf den Putsch: Die Vereinigten Staaten und das Vereinigte Königreich unterstützten vorbehaltlos Boris Jelzin, Deutschland entschied sich für die Rückkehr Gorbatschows und Frankreich liebäugelte zunächst mit Janajew und den Putschisten, bevor es sich für den Präsidenten Russlands Boris Jelzin begeisterte.

‘The big move’.In 1990, the German cartoonist Behrendt observes that the Soviet Empire is doomed to break up.

‘The end is in sight'. In 1991, the cartoonist Fritz Behrendt announces the end of the Communist regime in the USSR.

On 4 September 1991, the Belgian daily newspaper La Libre Belgique considers the confrontation between federalists and confederalists over the redefining of links between the Republics at the Extraordinary Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR.

On 19 September 1991, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe welcomes the failure of the coup d’état of 18–21 August in the Soviet Union and comments on the development of the economic and political situation in the Soviet Republics.

On 8 December 1991, in Minsk, the Republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign the Treaty establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On 21 December, in Alma-Ata in Kazakhstan, eight other former Soviet Republics also sign the Minsk Treaty, thus joining the founder members of the CIS.

On 8 December 1991, in Minsk, Leonid Kravchuk, President of Ukraine, Stanislau Shushkevich, President of the Republic of Belarus, and Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation, sign the Treaty of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

On 9 December 1991, the day after the meeting between the leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in Minsk, the French daily newspaper Le Monde wonders whether the solution of a confederal state, backed by Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, is not doomed to failure.

On 10 December 1991, commenting on the political break-up of the USSR and the actions of Mikhaïl Gorbachev, the French newspaper Le Monde considers the reaction of the Moscow leadership.

On 10 December 1991, the French daily newspaper Le Monde notes that Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, is not able to stop the leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine from declaring the end of the USSR by proclaiming the Commonwealth of Independent States in Minsk on 8 December 1991.

On 11 December 1991, the German cartoonist, Horst Haitzinger, illustrates the political collapse of the Soviet Union in his own inimitable fashion.

‘USSR — The break-up of the USSR.’ In the early 1990s, the French cartoonist Georges Million portrays the political break-up of the Soviet Union.

On 8 December 1991, in Minsk, the Republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign the Treaty establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On 21 December, eight other former Federated Soviet Republics also sign the Treaty of Minsk in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, thus joining the founding members of the CIS.

On 21 December 1991, in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a consultation body in the area of trade, clearly marks the fragmentation of the Soviet Empire.

On 21 December 1991, in Alma-Ata (now Almaty), Kazakhstan, the Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, welcomes the signing of the agreement enlarging the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). From left to right: Leonid Kravchuk, President of Ukraine, Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Stanislau Shushkevich, President of the Republic of Belarus.

On 23 December 1991, the Twelve comment on the decision adopted on 21 December in Alma-Ata by the Presidents of 11 Soviet Republics to create the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) from the ruins of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

On 23 December 1991, commenting on the official establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, the French daily newspaper Le Monde speculates on the viability of the confederal structures of the CIS given Russia’s hegemonic aspirations.

On 24 December 1991, the French daily newspaper Le Monde observes that Western countries are reacting favourably to the consolidation and enlargement of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) following the Alma-Ata meeting.

On 16 February 1992, following the Summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) held in Minsk, Belarus, the French daily newspaper Le Monde speculates on the future of the Soviet Red Army.

On 17 September 1992, the European Parliament adopts a resolution in which it advocates a new approach to relations between the European Community and the Commonwealth of Independent States and to the establishment of a renewed partnership between East and West.

On 12 December 1992, at the Edinburgh European Council, the Twelve adopt a declaration on future relations between the European Community, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).