Latvia states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence". In the north, Latvia, Finland and Estonia were assigned to the Soviet sphere. A week later, on 1 September 1939, Germany and on 17 September, the Soviet Union invaded Poland. After the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, most of the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis' government and Nazi Germany under the Heim ins Reich programme. In total 50,000 Baltic Germans left by the deadline of December 1939, with 1,600 remaining to conclude business and 13,000 choosing to remain in Latvia. Most of
Latvia–Russia relations of Latvia. Russia often criticizes Latvia for alleged discrimination against the Russian-speaking population. Russia has also participated in a number of cases of complaints against Latvia in the European Court of Human Rights as a third party. These cases also dealt with the violation of the rights of the Russian minority in Latvia. Such cases included "Slivenko v. Latvia", "Kononov v. Latvia", "Vikulov and others v. Latvia", "Sisojeva And Others v Latvia", and "Vasilevskiy v. Latvia". While some agreements have been signed by representatives of Latvia and Russia, not all have been passed by their respective legislatures and are therefore