BATUN comprised of volunteers with Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian backgrounds. The seven operational units of BATUN were: the membership, the annual meeting, the nine-member board, the paid office manager, the office, a journalist accredited at the UN, and the motivated individuals who initiated and implemented actions.  The members paid dues, made donations, voted for the candidates to the board by mail or at the annual meeting, and received information about the BATUN projects.

The BATUN volunteers were a diverse group. The leading activists – the BATUN officials and others with special roles – were veterans who were active in BATUN for all, or much of, the period from 1965 to 1991. At the opposite end were the many one-timers who attended a BATUN demonstration or festival, made a visit to the Permanent UN Missions, or donated to BATUN once. BATUN’s human resources were part-time, mostly college-educated, volunteers and, starting in March 1967, the office manager, who was the organization’s only salaried fulltime employee. At any given time, the number of committed volunteers totaled about ten. They conducted most of the visits to the Missions of UN Member States, and maintained contacts with the Baltic exile communities. The various office managers was essential to BATUN’s existence – they provided BATUN with some stability and continuity, especially during tough times. They were able to fill the gaps left by any volunteers who failed to deliver. However, temporary workers were also hired occasionally. Several of BATUN’s publications and other accomplishments were produced due to the initiative and perseverance of individual volunteers and employees.

Some of the BATUN volunteers working at the BATUN office, working on maintaining BATUN’s contacts with the UN and dealing with related projects, 1967. Source: LNA LVA F.2944:

Structure

The main administrative body of BATUN was the Board of Directors, which was comprised of three members from each nationality. The functions of the Board included conducting all joint activities, as well as, accepting reports on the activities of the nationality groups. The Board of Directors was comprised of a president, an executive chairman, a secretary-general, a treasurer, and other officers deemed necessary by the Board, or by the members present at the annual meeting. The board elected its own officials. It usually met monthly to hear the reports of the officials, assign tasks to its members or others, to make decisions and monitor their implementation.

BATUN bylaws. Source: LNA LVA F.2944.

9th BATUN Annual meeting in May 1975. From the left: Viktoras Nakas, Heino Ainso, Uldis Bluķis giving his report about future projects. Photo by L.Tamosaitis. Source: LNA LVA F.2944.
The 1976/77 BATUN Board of Directors, which was elected during the 10th Annual meeting, standing in front of the UN. From the left: Vija Siksna, Jonas Klivecka, Laima Sausais, Theodore Lemba, Karl Juks, Dalia Bulgaris, Andres Juriado, Margers Pinnis, Kestutis Miklas, Rein Virkmaa, Mari Linnamaa, Ints Rupners, B.Mikalauskas, Olgerts Balodis, Helen Kulber and Dagmara Vallens. Source: LNA LVA F.2944.

Each nationality organized its own national unit in accordance with the customs and the decisions adopted by the members. They decided upon their system of leadership, dues, and activities. For this purpose, they formulated and adopted their own bylaws, and filed a copy thereof with the BATUN Board of Directors. For example, the Latvian group was established on March 18, 1966. At the annual meetings of the national groups, organized either at the time of the BATUN annual meeting or prior to it, each national group chose three representatives and alternates to serve on the BATUN Board of Directors. It was also the duty of the national groups to recruit new members, inform their national communities about the work of BATUN and the UN, and to encourage cooperation with the appropriate national organizations and community leaders.

Statutes of BATUN’s Latvian group. Source: LNA LVA F.2944.
Letter to the board of the American Latvian Association about the establishment of the BATUN’s Latvian group on March 18, 1966. Source: LNA LVA F.2944.
Invitation to the founding meeting of BATUN’s Latvian group on March 18, 1966, which was sent to Uldis Bluķis. Source: LNA LVA F.2944.

The office manager was responsible for handling financial transactions, communication with the members, as well as with other Balts, the UN Missions and the UN Secretariat. Initially, the office was equipped for paper-based and telephone operations. Starting in 1987, its productivity gradually increased when a computer, printer, and finally a fax machine, was acquired. The first office manager was Mrs. Dagmara Vallens who served from March 15, 1967 to July 1, 1975. Mrs. Vallens spent a lot of time on mission-specific tasks, such as the UN visits, research, interviews, publishing news releases, organizing the Baltic Folk Festivals and various other projects. In addition, she performed the administrative tasks necessary to run the organization, such as fundraising, public relations, recordkeeping, taking the minutes, handling the correspondence, filing etc. After Dagmara left, temporary managers served for short periods in 1975 and 1976, among them Kalju Ets and Gatis Mastiņš. In 1976 Ms. Ieva Bērziņš was hired on a permanent basis. She worked in this position, mostly on administrative tasks, until 1985. In early 1986 Ms. Māra Treimanis took over as office manager. She focused on administrative tasks, but occasionally also carried out mission-specific tasks. She served until 27 September 1991, when she resigned to join the newly formed Permanent Mission of Latvia to the UN. Eventually, Mrs. Ausma Lagzdiņš took over as office manager, having previously helped out at the BATUN office on a part-time basis.

Dagmara Vallens, BATUN’s first office manager near the Latvian Catholic Congregation where the BATUN office was, 1968. Source: LNA LVA F.2944.

Presidents of BATUN (1966-1991)

Financial support and expenses

Freedom is not free… Our volunteers donate a great deal of their time and, in many cases, their personal financial resources.

BATUN existed as a non-profit organization that covered its expenses from donations. The fact that BATUN did not receive any funding from other countries, funds or agencies ensured its independence and credibility in the international arena.

The BATUN was financed by:

  • Contributions from the national groups
  • Donations from organization and individuals to support the work of BATUN
  • Income from joint projects

Financial resources were a major concern for BATUN throughout its history. The shortage of money impacted BATUN’s activities and the available material resources (office space, equipment, and supplies, as well as travel and other services). Raising money from the exile community was one of BATUN’s major activities. A major expense was the salary of the one, usually full-time, employee. Maintaining an office for a small organization with, even a part-time, paid staff was an expensive proposition on a relatively small budget. At times, BATUN also paid part-time employees and the full-time summer interns. Paid employees were an essential part of BATUN’s human resources, as were the volun­teers. Most volunteered their time while working or studying full-time.  Some had time-consuming family responsibilities. Most also had other responsibilities in their ethnic communities.

International lobbying, which was one of BATUN’s main activities, was an expensive proposition, and became even more so in the late 1980s and early 1990s when BATUN was working with the Baltic independence movements and pro-independence governments. BATUN volunteers donated a great deal of their time and, in many cases, their own financial resources. Lobbying in New York was the least expensive activity. Other than the office expenses incurred for the lobbying, the only other resource was the relevant experience of the volunteer delegates and time they devoted to the preparations/visits. However, making lobbying visits in Geneva and the European capitals required considerable funds for travel and living expenses. In 1984, a full-time paid delegate began making visits to the Foreign Ministries in Europe. In the second half of the 1980’s, these visits were continued on a more limited scale by volunteers whose expenses were usually paid.

The vast majority of BATUN’s income came from dues and monetary contributions from its members and donors. For some specific projects, such as sending delegations to Geneva, significant funding was provided by various Baltic central organizations. Among these were the Estonian-American National Council, the World Federation of Free Latvians, the Latvian Association Daugavas Vanagi, the Lithuanian World Community, the Lithuanian Credit Union Kasa and others. Most of BATUN’s funding came from the Latvian exile community, mostly from those in the USA. Expenses were apportioned as follows: Latvians 60%, Estonians and Lithuanians 20% each. At the BATUN annual meeting in 1976, the following observations were made about the donating habits of the three national groups: 1. Estonians donate willingly, but do not join; 2. Latvians donate and join; 3. Lithuanians do not donate, but do join, as pensioners at a reduced membership rate.