Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Baltic Way in Japan
On August 23, 2019, Embassies of the three Baltic States in Japan organized Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Baltic Way at the EU Delegation premises in Tokyo.
Guests were welcomed by the EU Ambassador to Japan Ms. Patricia Flor, Ambassadors of the Baltic States, Chairman of Japan-Lithuania Parliamentary Friendship Group Mr. Hirofume Nakasone. Ambassador Gediminas Varvuolis in his address shared his personal memories from his participation in the Baltic Way and underlined its historic and moral importance for Europe and the World in recognizing crimes of Stalinism and Nazism, and eventually led to reinstatement of Lithuanian independence on March 11, 1991, and break-up of the Soviet Union.
During the event, Professor of Showa Women’s University S. Shima made a presentation “Historic significance of the Baltic Way through the eyes of a Japanese”. Documentaries on Baltic Way produced by all three Baltic States were screened and an exhibition of photographs on Baltic Way was presented by the Lithuanian Embassy.
The Baltic Way was a unique peaceful demonstration which took place 23 August 1989, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of secret Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which sealed the fates of Baltic States before the II World War and lead to their soviet occupation. More than a million people stood hand-in-hand in the 600-kilometre-long human chain that permeated the three Baltic States.
It symbolized aspirations of people of the Baltic States for freedom and ending the Soviet occupation.
