As political upheavals took place throughout the Soviet Union in the 1980s, during the events of the Baltic Way, Estonia declared sovereignty on its territory in 1988, which restored its "de facto" independence on 8 May 1990 and declared Soviet rule illegal. Following the aborted coup in Moscow, the country's full "de facto" independence was restored after the Soviet troops failed to seize the Tallinn TV Tower on 20 August 1991. The Soviet State Council recognized the Estonian independence on 6 September 1991. Since 2004, Estonia has been a member of NATO and the European Union.