Taking Legitimacy to Exile: Baltic Orthodox Churches and the Interpretation of the Concept of Legal Continuity during and after the Soviet Occupation of the Baltic States

Rohtmets and Teraudkalns analyze the interpretation of the concept of legal continuity in the Orthodox churches of the Baltic states during and after the annexation and occupation of the Baltic states. They focus on Orthodoxy because of its transnational, yet territorial, character and connections with neighboring Russia. This enables them to ask how the continuity of Orthodoxy has corresponded to the understanding of state continuity and view the relations between different Orthodox communities not only in a religious but also in a political context. They begin with a historical analysis of the interpretation of the concept in exile and conclude by analyzing the situation from 1991 onward.