to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries. In 1945, Sweden extradited approximately 170 men from the Baltic countries conscripted into the Waffen SS, who had fled Soviet re-occupation to find refuge in Sweden, to the Soviet Union. On 15 August 2011, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt officially apologized to the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at a ceremony in Stockholm saying that "Sweden owes its Baltic neighbours a "debt of honour" for turning a blind eye to post-war Soviet occupation" and speaking of "a dark moment" in his country's history. Countries that had gained independence after World War II and did not make any special statements about the issue of the Baltic states when they negotiated diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union (implicitly) recognised the incorporation the Baltic states into the Soviet Union. 4. Countries that have not formally expressed their position The remaining countries of the world remained silent on the issue for example: – no final decision on non-recognition policy, even though President Urho Kaleva Kekkonen's unofficial visit to Estonia in 1964 was often presented as implying recognition. As of the 1980s the Finnish consulate in Leningrad included Tallinn in its consular district, along with the Karelian ASSR. Finland continued diplomatic relations established in 1920 rather than recognise the Baltic states anew in 1991. – though the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi's trip to Tallinn during the 1982 state visit to the USSR implied recognition. 5. Countries within the Communist Bloc considered the annexation of the Baltic states legal Historical considerations The situation with the Baltic countries was not unique. In the aftermath of World War II, a debate sparked over which norms of international law were applicable to a number of other illegal annexations such as annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia by the Nazi Germany in 1938. And, with dissolution of the Soviet Union, Georgia also expressed desire to be recognized as a successor to Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921) but that was rejected mainly because its period of independence was deemed too short. Baltic states assert state continuity Estonia On 30 March 1990, the Estonian Supreme Council adopted the resolution on the state status of Estonia. The resolution announced that the independence of Estonia de jure had never been suspended, because of the illegal occupation since 1940. A further resolution of the restoration of the Republic of Estonia was adopted on