More than 50,000 people in Lithuania formed a human chain from Vilnius to the border with Belarus to show solidarity with the country’s protesters.

Dubbed the "freedom way," the chain stretched 32 kilometres from Cathedral Square in Vilnius to Medininkai, a town close to the Belarusian border.

The footage was filmed on Sunday (August 23).

On Sunday, August 23, 2020, over 50,000 people in Lithuania formed the Freedom Way - human chain from Vilnius to the border with Belarus to show solidarity with the country’s protesters.

The Freedom Way stretched 32 kilometres from Cathedral Square in central Vilnius to Medininkai, a town close to the Belarusian border.

"Freedom is not only a fundamental human right but also a nation's fundamental right. It’s also a daily commitment to defend it from any attempt on it by those who would replace freedom with darkness, oppression ands fear,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.

Thirty years ago Lithuania broke its shackles of oppression by forming the Baltic Way with its Latvian and Estonian brothers and showing the world that we are free and, first of all, free in our spirit,” he said.

“Today, time has come for our Belarusian brothers to say the dear word ‘Freedom’.”

People in Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine and many other counties joined the human chain initiative to support protesters in Belarus.

The event in solidarity with the Belarusian protesters coincides with the anniversary of 1989 Baltic Way, when two million Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians joined hand to hand in a human chain, connecting through the three Baltic states, to show their determination for the freedom from the Soviet Union.

The Baltic Way was the biggest protest event in the Baltics and an important stepping stone towards independence from the USSR. Thirty years later, it still stands as a unique example of Baltic solidarity and the power of peaceful protest. The Baltic Way were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2009 in recognition of their value for history.


Soundtrack: Scott_Holmes. Humanity. https://freemusicarchive.org/