Please wait!
22.08.2014
To mark the 25th anniversary of the historical campaign Baltic Way, the postal service providers of the three Baltic States are to hold asimultaneous release of special stamps and a joint stamp block dedicated to that event. The stamp of each country will make one fragment of the Baltic Way chain, while the stamp block will combine all the three fragments in one image. The first-day cancellation of the new stamps is to take place in the Museum of the Popular Front of Latvia, 13/15 Vecpilsētas Street, Riga, on August 23, 2014, from 9:00 AM to 5 PM. The Baltic Way stamps and the special cover with the first-day cancellation will also be presented to the prime ministers of the three Baltic States during the commemorative events on August 23.
The Baltic Way stamps have been designed by the Estonian artist Indrek Ilves. The postal service providers of the three Baltic States found his artistic idea to be the most suitable for creating the joint stamp issue. Arnis Salnājs, Chairman of the Board at Latvijas Pasts, will present the Baltic Way stamp released in Latvia together with the first-day cover and cancellation to the prime ministers of the three Baltic States during the commemorative events to be held on August 23.
The print run of the new Latvian Baltic Way stamp is 300,000 and its denomination is EUR 0.50, corresponding to the cost of mailing a regular Class B letter within Latvia. The Baltic Way three-stamp block has the print run of 25,000 copies in each of the Baltic countries. The total denomination of the stamp block released in Latvia is EUR 2.34, which is EUR 0.78 per stamp in the block - the cost of mailing a regular Class A letter to any country within the European Union.
The individual Latvian stamp has been printed at Baltic Banknote printing house in Latvia, while the joint issue of the stamps has been printed by Joh. Enschedé, a printing company based in the Netherlands.
The Baltic Way was a unique campaign of the people of the Baltic States that occurred on August 23, 1989. The people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning over 600 kilometers across the three Baltic States to demand restoration of independence of the three countries. August 23 in the history of the Baltic States is the anniversary of the notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed between the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in 1939. The pact and its secret protocols divided European countries into spheres of influence of both aggressors and led to the occupation of the Baltic States. Fifty years later, the Baltic Way became one of the steps demonstrating the clear will of the people for independence of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The Baltic Way stamp released in Latvia, the joint Baltic Way stamp issue of the three Baltic States, the first-day cover and cancellation can be viewed here.
The next new philatelic release by Latvijas Pasts is scheduled for August 27.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with more than 4,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by TNS Latvia, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa,