The present-day governments of Estonia and Latvia, who regained their independence in 1991, generally take a positive, or sometimes neutral, view towards the contributions of the Baltic Germans in the development of their cities and countries throughout their history.
After Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union on August 20, 1991, the exiled association of the German Baltic nobility sent an official message to the president-to-be Lennart Meri that no member of the association would claim proprietary rights to their former Estonian lands.