Meetings in the Baltic Countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
In early September 2001, a carload of Falun Dafa practitioners from Finland, Sweden and Canada traveled to the capital cities of the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Joined by a small group of Latvian practitioners, they held successful meetings with government officials and with journalists from radio, television and newspaper. Many thousands of fliers were distributed and many thousands of people walking through city parks and along main streets saw the graceful Falun Gong exercises for the first time. Hundreds asked questions, wanting to know why they had not heard all this news before.
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| Ms. Margit Tombek, Policy Consultant to the President of Estonia, happily receives the book of Falun Gong teachings and music from Swedish practitioners. | Mr. Andrejs Pildegovics, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Latvia smiles as he accepts Falun Gong materials from a Canadian practitioner, watched by a Latvian practitioner |
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| Mr. Stasys Kruzinauskas, a member of the Lithuanian parliament, accepts Falun Gong books and music from a Canadian practitioner. | The Special Advisor to the Mayor of Vilnius shares a light moment with a Canadian practitioner. |
This trip preceded the SOS Global RescueWalk in that area by one or two weeks, and created much interest amongst the citizens in Talinn, Riga and Vilnius. When the SOS walkers came through those same cities later in September, people and governments were even more eager to support the plight of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and to learn more about the practice itself.