Lithuanians understand freedom. That is why public figures and activists in the largest of the Baltic states are offering unstinting political and humanitarian support for Belarus’s pro-democracy uprising. The long-serving foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, has been in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to build an international coalition against the election-rigging regime of Alexander Lukashenko, and in support of the democratic opposition. The Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda, has shown that given the right instincts and advisers, a lack of foreign-policy experience before taking office is no handicap to principled effectiveness. A Lithuanian journalist, Andrius Tapinas, plans to recreate the Baltic Way demonstration of August 23, 1989, in which two million people linked hands on the 400-mile trans-Baltic highway, in protest at the Soviet occupation. This time, the route will run from Vilnius to the Belarus border.
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Edward Lucas: Supporting freedom in Belarus
A protester waves a flag with the Pahonia, an unofficial Belarusian coat of arms, during a rally in support of the Belarusian protests against the results of the Aug. 9 presidential election in Belarus in downtown Kyiv on Aug. 16, 2020.
