Estonian diplomatic service
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Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 was occupied on June 17, 1940, by Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 troops and was officially annexed to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 on August 6, 1940. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, from 1940 through 1991, never recognized the forcible and illegal annexation of the Baltic States
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

, in conformity with the principles of the Stimson Doctrine
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine is a policy of the United States federal government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to Japan and China, of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force. The doctrine was an application of the principle of ex injuria jus non oritur...

 (US Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles
Sumner Welles
Benjamin Sumner Welles was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State from 1937 to 1943, during FDR's presidency.-Early life:Benjamin Sumner Welles was born in...

's Declaration of July 23, 1940), and more than 50 countries followed this position.

The Republic of Estonia, from 1940 through 1991, continued to exist as a state de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....

 according to international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

 during the whole period of its actual occupation and annexation. Therefore, some Estonian diplomatic and consular representations continued to function from 1940 through 1991 in some Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

 countries (the United States, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and others), dealing with a limited part of state functions of the Republic of Estonia.

The heads of the Estonian Diplomatic Service were Johannes Kaiv
Johannes Kaiv
Johannes Kaiv was an Estonian diplomat. A graduate in law from the University of Tartu, Kaiv studied at the Hague Academy of International Law. Between 1935 to 1939 he was the Honorary Consul in Sydney, Australia and in the years 1939 to 1965 the acting Consul General of Estonia in New York, since...

 (1940-1965) and Ernst Jaakson
Ernst Jaakson
Ernst Jaakson was an Estonian diplomat whose unique contribution was to keep Estonia's legal continuity with his uninterrupted diplomatic service for 69 years.-Education:...

 (1965-1991). In 1969, Ernst Jaakson signed the Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages
Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages
The Apollo 11 goodwill messages are statements from leaders of 73 countries around the world on a disc about the size of a 50-cent piece made of silicon that was left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts....

on behalf of the Estonian nation, among leaders of 73 countries from around the world.
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