The Baltic Way is so far the biggest joint undertaking in the history of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania which played an important role in demonstrating the unity of the three Baltic countries, City of Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar said at the opening of the Baltic Way commemorative stone on Tuesday.
«Today, exactly 24 years ago, on Aug. 20, 1989 none of us dared to imagine how powerful and exhilarating of an undertaking a human chain from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius a few days later would be,» Savisaar said.
According to him the speed with which the undertaking was organized is remarkable. «The decision to organize a large-scale human chain was made in Parnu on July 15, 1989 when the first session of the coordinating body of the Popular Fronts of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Baltic Council, took place. On Aug. 23, 1989 a unique, almost 600 kilometers long human chain was organized where about two million people joined hands. With this undertaking the 50th anniversary of the criminal Molotov-Ribbentrop secret protocol that determined the post-war fate of the Baltic countries was marked,» he said.
Adding the Baltic Way to the UNESCO Memory of the World programme verifies the vast significance of the impressive peaceful undertaking, he added.
«Today we are opening here, on the 20th of August square, the Baltic Way commemorative stone,» Savisaar said. «It is a gift from the City of Vilnius which was given to us and the City of Riga on May 24 this year.»
According to Savisaar the footprints on the monument symbolize the Baltic Way, the people who walked on the Baltic Way and especially the ones who went along with the undertaking on Aug. 23, 1989.
Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar, Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs and Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas took part in the opening ceremony of the Baltic Way commemorative stone on Aug. 20 on Tallinn's Harju Hill. The opening included an outdoor concert of Estonian pianist Rein Rannap and male vocal group Ensemble Collegium Musicale, conducted by Endrik Uksvarav.
The commemorative stone was made by Lithuanian sculptor Gitenis Umbrasas and given to Tallinn by the City Council of Vilnius. The sculpture consists of three parts -- another stone was given to the City of Riga and a third one was opened in Vilnius on May 24. In addition to the stone a commemorative plaque was opened on which an informative text in Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, English and Russian is written.