To mark the 50^th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area aka the Helsinki Convention, Latvia, who’s currently holding the Chairmanship of Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), will host a celebration on 25 April 2024 in Riga. The event will be preceded by a Ministerial Meeting of the Contracting Parties in the morning of the same day.

The guests, including representatives of the HELCOM Contracting Parties, observers and partner organizations will take part at the occasion where the achievements of the first 50 years of HELCOM and looking forward to future challenges will be debated.

VASAB has been invited to participate and provide a statement and a congratulation at the both events as has a strong collaboration with HELCOM regards facilitation of maritime spatial planning via HELCOM-VASAB Maritime Spatial Planning Working Group. VASAB and HELCOM acts also as the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region co-coordinators of the Policy area ‘Spatial Planning’.

More information on Ministerial Meeting and on HELCOM 50th anniversary