Monday, Sep. 07, 1987
World Notes SOVIET UNION
The list of Soviet minorities testing glasnost grew by three last week as demonstrators in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia openly marked the 48th anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet secret protocol that led to Soviet annexation of the three independent Baltic nations in 1940. Altogether, several thousand people took to the street to chant freedom slogans and sing patriotic songs.
The Soviet press accused "Western radio voices," including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, of fomenting the demonstrations in programs beamed to the three republics. Both stations had indeed reported extensively on preparations for the demonstrations. But many protesters said they had learned about the anniversary events not from the radio programs but from the Soviet denunciations of them.