Recalled from Nicaragua in June 1988, he led Estonia's Communists through the sovereignty declaration, the first breach in the Soviet wall.
"Our deputies have shown their will to see Estonia as a sovereign and equal member within the Soviet Union," he said after the sovereignty vote, November 1988.
An Estonian from the island of Hiiumaa, Väljas rose through Komsomol and party ranks from the 1950s, becoming a secretary of the Central Committee of the Estonian Communist Party by the 1970s. Suspected of nationalist sympathies, Moscow pushed him into diplomatic exile in 1980, making him ambassador to Venezuela and then Nicaragua. On 16 June 1988 he was recalled to replace the hardliner Karl Vaino as First Secretary; working with the Popular Front, he steered through Estonia's declaration of sovereignty that November, the first such assertion by a Soviet republic. He voted for the restoration of Estonian independence in August 1991 and later chaired the Estonian Democratic Labour Party.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1949–1955Various Komsomol posts; graduated Tartu State University (1955)
- 1955–1961First Secretary, Central Committee, ELKNÜ (Estonian Komsomol)
- 1961–1971First Secretary, Tallinn City Committee, Communist Party of Estonia
- 1963–1967Chairman, 6th Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR
- 1971–1980Secretary, Central Committee, Communist Party of Estonia
- 1980–1988Soviet Ambassador to Venezuela (1980–86), then Nicaragua (1986–88)
- 1988–1990First Secretary, Central Committee, Communist Party of Estonia
- 1992–1995Chairman, Estonian Democratic Labour Party
Related historical events
- 1988–1991The Nationalities Crisis and the Collapse of Central AuthorityFirst Secretary who led Estonia's sovereignty declarationAs First Secretary of the Estonian Communist Party, he helped lead adoption of the sovereignty declaration in November 1988.
- 1987–1991The Baltic Independence Movement and the Baltic WayFirst Secretary of the Communist Party who led Estonia's sovereignty declarationOn 16 June 1988 he replaced Karl Vaino as First Secretary of the Estonian Communist Party and, as an ethnic Estonian, cooperated with the Popular Front to push forward the sovereignty declaration.
- 1991The August Coup and the Collapse of the USSREstonian deputy who voted to restore independenceAs a member of the Supreme Council, he voted for the restoration of Estonian independence in August 1991.
The sovereignty declaration and the transition to restored independence
After returning to Estonia in June 1988, Väljas became First Secretary of the Estonian Communist Party and led its restructuring. Amid pressure from the Estonian Popular Front, he emphasized the sovereignty of Estonia within the Soviet Union and helped lead the Estonian SSR Supreme Soviet to adopt a declaration of sovereignty that November. The declaration asserted the republic's political autonomy against central Soviet authority and was a precedent and a stage in the process leading to full independence. This transition, however, cannot be explained by Väljas's leadership alone: mass mobilization in Estonian society and divisions within the Communist Party were also part of its political context. After the party split in 1990, he led its pro-Estonian wing, and as a member of the Supreme Council he voted for the restoration of independence in August 1991.