Since waves of unrest began in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, particularly in Poland, the countries in those regions sought independence from the Soviet Union. In Belarus, from 1991 to 1995 Independence Day was celebrated on 27 July, the day of the Declaration of Sovereignty of Belarus. This event was Belarus' declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. On 25 August 1991, after the August events in Moscow, the Byelorussian SSR gave the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Republic constitutional status.