Savisaar: Baltic Way Helped Convince Soviet Powers Independence Was The Next Step
Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar, one of the organizers behind the Baltic Way, said the 1989 human chain through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania helped top Soviet politicians to understand that independence was the next step.
“If events such as the Baltic Way or IME (Isemajandav Eesti – separating the Estonian economy from the Soviet Union's), or others had not taken place I do not believe we would have convinced Moscow that independence is a natural development,” Savisaar told ETV on Saturday, at a conference and mayoral reception that marked the 25th anniversary of the event.
Savisaar said the current political establishment has done much to put distance between the Baltic nations, but a unified politics would again draw the three closer.