Human chain reminded world about Baltic striving for freedom – Levits

RIGA – 30 years ago, the human chain that stretched from Tallinn via Riga to Vilnius reminded to the whole world about the Baltic striving for freedom, said Latvian President Egils Levits at the special event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Baltic Way during which airBaltic presented its aircraft painted in the national colors of the three Baltic states.

“Thirty years ago, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and everywhere in the world, almost every Balt joined the Baltic Way in their hearts and minds at that time by striving for the freedom of their relatives and themselves and the independence of all three Baltic States.” Said Levits.

The president extended his gratitude to airBaltic for the beautiful and creative idea of painting three new aircraft into the flag colors of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, the national colors of the three nations.

On August 23, 1989, around 2 million people in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined hands in a 650-kilometer-long human chain stretching from Tallinn to Vilnius to mark 50 years since the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and secret protocols that divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.