Baltic–Soviet relations military measures." In mid-June 1940, when international attention was focused on the German invasion of France, Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. State administrations were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres, Elections were held with single pro-Soviet candidates listed for many positions, with resulting peoples assemblies immediately requested admission into the USSR, which was granted by the Soviet Union. Germany invaded and occupied the territories of Baltic states in 1941 during "Operation Barbarossa". At the beginning the Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians hoped that the Germans would reestablish Baltic independence. Such political hopes soon evaporated and
Baltic Pipe On 2 May 2007, PGNiG and Energinet.dk, a Danish transmission system operator, which was taken over Danish natural gas transmission network from DONG, signed an agreement to explore the possibility of construction the Baltic Pipe. In August 2008, the Polish Government replaced PGNiG with the fully state-owned pipeline operator Gaz-System as the project partner. On 18 May 2009, the European Commission launched a call for proposals for grants in the framework of the European Energy Programme for Recovery. It proposed to allocate about €150 million for implementation of Skanled and Baltic Pipe projects. However, on 16 June 2009 Gaz-System suspended