Participants of “Way of Freedom”: This Is Continuation of Fight That Started in Lithuania 30 Years Ago

What the participants of the Solidarity Action in Lithuania talked about.

On Sunday evening, several tens of thousands of people took up arms and formed a human chain from Cathedral Square in Vilnius to Medininkai on the border of Belarus. Participants of the action told why they took part in the action, writes Delfi.

A woman standing near Town Hall Square said she had been from Klaipeda.

"We want to express our support and take part in the historic event," said the interlocutor. She said she was glad opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsukhanovskaya was safe in Lithuania.

"It's hard to say how to assess it. I'm glad that she's in Lithuania, perhaps, it ensures her safety, because developments in Belarus could be unpredictable. I assess her safety as positive," the interlocutor said.

The man arrived from Švenčionėliai.

"We came to support our brotherly country, our neighbours," the interlocutor said. He believes that "the Belarusians' fight for freedom is a continuation of the fight Lithuania started 30 years ago.

A woman with a baby who came to participate in the "Way of Freedom" said she was scared to see what was happening in the neighbouring country.

"But there are a lot of us, we hope that everything will be fine," she said. She believes the protests in Belarus will stop when "one person renounces power".

"We hope it will happen as soon as possible," she noted.

On Sunday evening, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addressed the gathered Lithuanian residents. She thanked them in Lithuanian for their help and support.

"Thank you very much for your support. You understand Belarusians more than anyone else because you have experienced it. I do hope that soon we will again create a human chain, but not of solidarity, but friendship with free Belarus," she said.

It will be recalled that almost 50,000 people stretched in a human chain of about 32 km. The action was held on August 23. On that day in 1989 - a living chain from Vilnius to Tallinn (the Baltic Way) united more than a million people. At that time, the world got the message that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia intended to get rid of the Soviet occupation and restore independence.

Most of the protesters wore white clothes, held Belarusian flags and gladioluses in their hands.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, ex-presidents Dalia Grybauskaitė and Valdas Adamkus, Speaker of the Parliament Viktoras Pranzketis, ministers, deputies, mayors and others took part in the event.

Ten small planes flew over "Way of Freedom", motorcyclists and bicyclists were on the way. A 15-meter balloon with Belarusian flag soared above Cathedral Square.