On September 5th, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania, H.E. Ms. Audra Plepytė, together with Permanent Representatives of Latvia and Estonia opened an Exhibition at the UN Headquarters in New York, dedicated to the Baltic Appeal to the United Nations movement (BATUN). The exhibition was prepared by the Museum of Occupation of Latvia and presents activities of social organizations during the time of occupation of the Baltic States between 1966 and 1991.
On September 5th, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania, H.E. Ms. Audra Plepytė, together with Permanent Representatives of Latvia and Estonia opened an Exhibition at the UN Headquarters in New York, dedicated to the Baltic Appeal to the United Nations movement (BATUN). The exhibition was prepared by the Museum of Occupation of Latvia and presents activities of social organizations during the time of occupation of the Baltic States between 1966 and 1991.
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Ambassador A. Plepytė outlined the importance and the contribution of the movement to the restoration of Baltic States independence and plea for the United Nations membership. “During the occupation, members of BATUN have kept the spirit of the Baltic States independence question at the United Nations alive and once restored, contributed to their swift transition from “citizens’ diplomacy” to full representation. Without the efforts of BATUN our strive for independence wouldn’t had transformed into reality and our flags today wouldn’t be raised amongst other United Nation members” – said Ambassador A. Plepytė.
The roots of the BATUN movement goes as deep as 70’s when on November 13th, 1965 almost 14 thousand Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians had gathered at the Madison Square Garden in New York to rally against the occupation of the Baltic States. This rally was organized under the initiative of Antanas Mažeika, the chair of the Lithuanian Independence Committee and monsignor Jonas Balkūnas. The BATUN movement had actively raised the question of Baltic States independence at the United Nations and worked until restoration of independence and full UN membership of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
