Baltic (Hall) Way in Brussels Recalls Seminal 1980s Moment
As of Wednesday, visitors to the European Parliament can stroll down the Baltic Way corridor, an idea conceived by former Latvian foreign minister Sandra Kalniete.
Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian diplomats and politicians took part in the opening ceremony yesterday in Brussels, where one of the central hallways of legislative power in the EU hub received a new honorary title.
"The Baltic Way is a unique symbol of man's sense of community, unbreakable courage and aspiration for freedom. People of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia who joined their hands to form a human chain demonstrated to the world that strong will and unity can prevail even over military power," the EP's president, Martin Schulz, was quoted by the Baltic Course as saying.
The Baltic Chain, aka the Baltic Way, is the name given to a demonstration that took place on August 23, 1989 in which over 1 million people formed a 600-kilometer human chain through the three Baltic countries, speaking out to attain freedom from the Soviet Union. The demonstration marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the secret non-aggression agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.