[1] Helsinki-86 was an important early actor during the "Singing Revolution" in Latvia, during which the country regained its independence from the USSR.
On August 23, 1987, the group organized a protest demonstration against the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which among numerous other historical events resulted in the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, during the administration of Latvian President and Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis.
On March 25, 1988 the group called for the Latvian people to gather by the Freedom Monument in Riga to commemorate the victims of Soviet terror.
On that particular day, it became evident that the pro-independence leadership began a gradual transition of influence from Helsinki-86 to moderate Latvian Communists and nationally prominent figures, who openly invited Latvian citizens for the first time to come en masse to a different Riga location: the Cemetery of Fallen Soldiers.
On June 14, 1988, for the first time since the Soviet occupation, the group openly carried the Latvian national flag through the streets of Riga.