Welcome to celebrate Baltic Sea Day on the last Thursday in August – everyone is invited! We will hear greetings from the Baltic States and learn to understand the environmental status of our sea. We will also discuss the relationship between the Baltic Sea and Finns.

Opening Ceremony of the 5th Baltic Sea Day

• The Mayor of Helsinki Juhana Vartiainen will open the day from the City Hall.
• We will visit the Mayor’s office in Tallinn, Estonia to meet with Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, then to Visby, Gotland and will be greeted by the Chair of the Regional Executive Committee, Meit Fohlin.
• Greetings from Danmark, Poland, Åland and Latvia will be presented online.
• German Ambassador Konrad Arz von Straussenburg will elaborate on the German heritage to the Baltic Sea and the Executive Secretary of Helcom (Helsinki Comission) Rüdiger Strempel will share to the audience what the state of the Baltic Sea is. Towards the end of the opening hour, the CEO of John Nurminen Foundation Annamari Arrakoski-Engardt will expand on why we need the Baltic Sea Day.

The event will be moderated by Katri Makkonen.