Lithuania gave final approval to a controversial new law that that demands Moscow compensate the country for five decades of Soviet occupation. Passage of the law provoked a sharp, angry response from politicians in Russia.

The bill, which has broad public support, was introduced last month by Parliament Speaker Vytautas Landsbergis, a staunch anti-communist and the president during Lithuania's independence drive from Moscow in the early 90s. The law obliges the Lithuanian government to seek money from Russia for repressions and for environmental damage caused during 1940-91 Soviet rule. It says a commission should be set up to decide on an exact sum to request. No figures are mentioned in the bill, though Lithuanian officials have earlier calculated that Soviet rule cost their country over 100 billion dollars. Russia has scoffed at the proposed law and said it could harm Lithuanian-Russian relations. Yegor Stoyev, chairman of the Russian Federation Council, argued the day after the law was adopted that Lithuania should be thankful for all the infrastructure projects funded and built during Soviet rule. He also mocked Lithuanian lawmakers for only considering a request for damages going back to the Soviet period.