Anniversary of the Baltic chain marked in Ukraine
Ukrainians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians gathered in Kyiv’s European Square on Saturday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Baltic Way protest against Soviet rule.
The ambassadors of the three Baltic States said they had come together to offer their support to Ukrainians during their time of crisis.
“Ukraine is fighting for the freedom and unity of the country, so we the people of the Baltic states stand with them. Ukrainians were with us in 1989 and since then. We’re all part of one big chain,” said Dr. Agita Daudze, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to Ukraine.
Celebrations also took place in the three Baltic states on Saturday.
On August 23 1989, over two million Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians joined hands to form a 600-kilometre cross-border human chain that connected Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.
The date was chosen to mark the fiftieth anniversary of a Soviet-Nazi pact that led to the Baltic states occupation.
It has been considered a defining moment on the road to the independence of the three nations from Moscow in 1991.