Possible Clues:

• The Baltics, once: Abbr.
• States under Stalin (Abbr.)
• The Baltics, once: Abbr
• Much of E. Europe, once
• Est. and Lat., once
• Old geopolitical states: Abbr
• Ukr. and Lith., once (Abbr.)
• The Baltics, once (Abbr.)
• Much of Eastern Eur., once
• Armenia and Georgia, once: Abbr.