On 4 May 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR adopted the declaration “On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia.” It was supported by 138 deputies—more than the required two-thirds—and through this constitutional-ranking act Latvia did not found a new state, but legally restored the Republic of Latvia proclaimed on 18 November 1918, grounding the decision in the doctrine of state continuity. The day became a symbol of the culmination of the Third Awakening.

The declaration marked the parliamentary path out of the Soviet occupation system and restored parts of the Satversme, Latvia’s constitution. Full de facto independence still had to be defended during the Barricades and consolidated by the constitutional law of 21 August 1991, but 4 May became both a legal and emotional watershed.