Reflections of a coup that 'ended too early'

  • 2006-08-23
  • Interview by Elizabeth Celms
While the world was watching the August '91 coup in Moscow, politicians in the Baltic states were frozen with apprehension. In Latvia, the Soviet military stormed the Radio station, TV tower and government building on Aug. 19. For three days, OMON troops patrolled Riga's Old Town while parliamentarians - huddled together in the barricade protected Supreme Council building - sweated out the long hours. Atis Lejins, then head of the Latvian Popular Front's foreign affairs department, was among them. When the coup ended on Aug. 21, the Supreme Council passed a constitutional bill declaring ful...
 
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