On 12 May 2005, the Saeima adopted a declaration condemning the USSR totalitarian communist occupation regime implemented in Latvia. The document described the regime’s crimes as part of the inhuman crimes committed by the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, honored members of the national resistance movement, and instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to establish within three months a commission to identify repressions, mass graves, and occupation-related losses. It became one of the cornerstones of Latvia’s political memory.

The declaration was adopted after Latvia joined the European Union, at a time when Latvia sought to ensure that its experience of occupation was more clearly included in Europe’s understanding of 20th-century history. It also strengthened the state’s position on researching the consequences of occupation and calculating the losses caused by it.