ABSTRACT
Among the 25 member countries of the European Union (EU), the Baltic states are exceptional because they are officially nation-states with a multinational population. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania achieved independence as nation-states after the First World War, and each made its distinctive Baltic language the state language. As a consequence of the Second World War, the Soviet Union absorbed the three states as Soviet republics; Russian became the official language; and the three republics became bi-national. After regaining independence, each country has remained bi-national in its resident population while officially defining itself as a nation-state with its Baltic language the sole official language of the state.
