... 1990 (20 years ago today), a Declaration of Sovereignty was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, naming the Republic of Belarus (map below)
a sovereign state established on the basis of the realization by the Belarusian nation of its inalienable right to self-determination, state-language status of the Belarusian language, and the supremacy of the people in the determination of its destiny.
Thus did the Belarus (prior posts) break from the Soviet Union with which it had been affiliated since the end of World War II. This declaration was among many in 1990, "The Year of USSR Independence and Sovereignty Declarations," as Helsinki Watch, predecessor of Human Rights Watch, called it.
(Prior July 27 posts are here, here, and here.)
