Kalniete invites to the exhibition marking 35 years since the Barricades

Sandra Kalniete MEP invites to the upcoming opening event of the photography exhibition Fourteen Days and Nights of the Barricades, which will take place on Tuesday, 27 January 2026, at 14:00 in European Parliament (Spinelli Distribution Area 3D).

This January marks 35 years since the Barricades, a pivotal moment in Latvia’s history when tens of thousands of unarmed civilians defended key locations in Riga against Soviet military forces. Their resilience and peaceful resistance in face of the Soviet military became a powerful symbol of Latvia’s unwavering pursuit of independence and national unity. 

On January 13, 1991, around half a million people joined the Barricades in Riga to protect the parliament, broadcasting infrastructure, and other key democratic institutions. Tragically, seven civilians were killed during attacks by Soviet OMON forces in the days that followed.

Sandra Kalniete, Member of the European Parliament, European People's Party: "The Baltic Way and the Barricades are examples of the power of the people's unity in a non-violent fight for freedom and the restoration of the state. The Barricades have written a remarkable page in our nation's history. We stood up to heavily armed OMON special forces with only our willpower, without weapons. Our courage and readiness to defend our right to freedom won us the support of the world's leading minds and politicians from democratic countries, who warned Moscow to stop the violence in the Baltic states. In these times of geopolitical change, the Barricades remind us, more than ever in the past 35 years, that we must be ready to defend our country and our freedom against the ambitions of the big powers.”

The photo exhibition at the European Parliament will be addressed by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Member of the European Parliament Sandra Kalniete, and Renārs Zaļais, Director of the 1991 Barricades Museum. The opening of the exhibition will be accompanied by musical performances by the Riga Technical College youth choir "Mīts," symbolically marking the fact that the restoration of the independence of the Baltic states has gone down in world history as the Singing Revolution.