ANDREJEVA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINION 43 Belgium the reparation of the damage caused took the form of pension advantages. 6. The Republic of Latvia, as an independent subject of international law, was under no obligation either to extend its social protection to, or repair the loss of Soviet social protection in respect of, persons who had worked in the Soviet Union, another subject of international law to which Latvia was not a successor State (see, with respect to Lithuania, Jasinskij and Others v. Lithuania, no. 38985/97, Commission decision of 9 September 1998, Decisions and Reports 94). However, since the dissolution of States is accompanied by significant difficulties, Latvia decided to guarantee a minimum pension to everyone living in the country, citizens and non-citizens alike, and additionally to compensate for losses incurred as a result of the demise of the USSR on the basis of the criteria of citizenship and territory. As far as Latvia was concerned, as is laid down in the transitional provisions of the State Pensions Act 1995, the compensation took the form of a pension advantage that the State extended, subject to certain conditions. In other words, citizenship is not a criterion for having a pension; it is a criterion for further entitlement (see, mutatis mutandis, Kireev v. Moldova and Russia (dec.), no. 11375/05, 1 July 2008, in which only citizens of the Republic of Moldova had the right to compensation). 7. In this regard, the majority make a mistake in saying that “the applicant was refused the pension in question solely because she did not have Latvian citizenship” (see paragraph 78 of the judgment). The mistake is twofold. The applicant was granted a minimum State-guaranteed pension like everyone else. This right was not refused. Furthermore, the State Pensions Act 1995 is only one of the laws regulating social security in old age. The Social Security Act provides for benefits in the event that a person is not fully entitled to a State-guaranteed old-age pension (as explained by the Constitutional Court – see paragraph 37 of the judgment). The majority assume that the applicant ought to enjoy the pension advantage without examining in detail the nature of the transitional provisions and the context of their adoption. It should be pointed out in this connection that the Convention does not guarantee any right to compensation for damage if the initial cause does not constitute a violation of the Convention, nor does it regard as a possession old property over which it has been impossible to exercise effective control, or a conditional claim which lapses as a result of the non-fulfilment of the condition (see Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein v. Germany [GC], no. 42527/98, §§ 83 and 93, ECHR 2001-VIII). 8. Furthermore, Latvia has engaged in active negotiations of relevant bilateral treaties with those States that under international law bore a priori direct responsibility for the years of employment accrued during the Soviet period. Suffice it to say that Latvia and the Russian Federation are in the