The Dalai Lama has concluded an eight-day tour of the Baltic states

The Dalai Lama has concluded an eight-day tour of the Baltic states, where there is deep popular sympathy for him and his causes. But there was also unease among some officials here that the Dalai Lama’s visit might offend China. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, whose visit was unofficial, held a brief unscheduled meeting Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar upon his arrival in the region on June 19. Estonia's President Lennart Meri declined to meet him. Both Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus did meet with the Dalai Lama later in the week, however, as did a number of prominent legislators and city government leaders. China, which occupied Tibet in 1950, sees the Dalai Lama as a supporter of Tibetan independence and has angrily objected in the past when world leaders received him. Many Balts have expressed strong support for Tibet, which some see as having shared a similar fate to the Baltics, which were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. As the Dalai Lama arrived at the respective Baltic airports, he was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers waving Tibetan flags and holding placards reading, "Free Tibet." The Dalai Lama last visited the Baltic states in 1991. His latest trip was organized by local universities, pro-Tibet parliamentarians and religious groups.