Colloquium Commemorating 20th Anniversary of Baltic Way to Take Place in French Senate

In the afternoon today, 8 September, the 20th anniversary of the Baltic Way will be commemorated in Paris with the colloquium “The Baltic Way: Three nations hand-in-hand—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (1989-2009)”, which was organised by the French-Baltic parliamentary friendship group and the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian embassies.

The first roundtable of the colloquium, which will take place in the Senate’s conference hall, is dedicated to the origins of the Baltic Way and the introduction of its historical role. In the second part, the focus will be on the Baltic Way’s role and influence in historical identity in today’s Europe.

Estonian Ambassador Margus Rava stated that recalling and discussing the events of 20 years ago continues to be important. “The Estonian Embassy is pleased that through today’s conference we can help to introduce our own history and preserve Europe’s common historical memory and identity,” said Ambassador Rava.

Within the framework of the colloquium, footage from the day of the Baltic Way 20 years ago will be shown and a Baltic Way photo exhibit will be displayed. The exhibit can be viewed from 14 September to 2 October in the Pont Neuf gallery in Paris and in October it will be Grenoble and Lyon.

Estonian Riigikogu Speaker Ene Ergma and former prime minister Mart Laar will give presentations about Estonia during the colloquium. Latvia will be represented by Parliament Speaker Gundars Daudze and European Parliament representative Sandra Kalniete and Lithuania by Vice-Speaker of Parliament Irena Degutiene and former president and European Parliament representative Vytautas Landsbergis. Jacques Legendre, a member of the French-Baltic friendship group, will address the influence of the Baltic Way in the context of today’s Europe. Claude Huriet, the former president of the Senate’s French-Baltic friendship group, will talk about France’s support for the Baltic nations’ endeavours to become independent. The current head of the Senate’s French-Baltic friendship group, Denis Badré, will give the closing speech on the Baltic Way being entered into the Memory of the World register. The roundtables will be led by former French ambassador to Latvia Michel Foucher and the president of the Robert Schuman Fund Jean-Dominique Giuliani.

Within the framework of the events commemorating the Baltic Way, OÜ Maurum’s 1989 documentary film “The Baltic Way” will be showed in UNESCO headquarters on 24 September at 18.00, an event arranged by the Estonian representation.

Additional information :
Sigrid Kristenprun
Press and information secretary
Estoniain Embassy in France
Tel: (33) 1 56 62 22 00 / (33) 6 30 90 63 65
e-mail: skristenprun@mfa.ee

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