Belarus had a chance to follow Lithuania’s footsteps. What happened? Giedrius Gaidamavičius, LRT.lt2021.04.04 10:00 Demonstration in Minsk, 1990. / AP As the Soviet Union faltered, Belarus saw similar national revival movements as in the Baltic states. But as Lithuania embarked on a path towards the European Union, the democratic transition in Belarus grounded to a halt. What happened? With the advent of perestroika in the mid-1980s, informal clubs and gatherings began to form in the Soviet republics. The first Belarusian pro-independence rallies took place in 1987, but the real breakthrough happened a year later when the struggle for historical memory began.