Venue: Finlandia Hall and University of Helsinki, FInland
Dates: 10 — 13 June 2025
To commemorate the Helsinki Final Act signed on 1 August 1975, we honour Helsinki’s diplomatic achievement. This achievement brought together countries from 33 nations, including Western and Eastern European states, the USA and the Soviet Union, to develop a framework that supported the end of the Cold War.
On the 50th anniversary of this good faith dialogue, the European Network of Remembrance and Solidarity (ERNS) in collaboration with Historians without Borders (HWB), the University of Helsinki, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany, the Leibniz-Institute of European History (IEG), Religion and Cold War Network (ReCoNet ) and the Aue Foundation will explore what became known as ‘the spirit of Helsinki’.
Often described as a masterpiece in ‘diplomatic engineering’, it was meant to reduce the tensions of the Cold War, while others have indicated that it ratified the division of Europe and accepted the Iron Curtain which ended only in 1989.
The dynamic contribution made by a range of civil society and political actors from 1975 will be explored as they continued to promote and embed human rights in Central and Eastern Europe and in political discourse more broadly.
During the symposium we will discuss where the ‘spirit of Helsinki’ has gone and the implications for current global challenges. In particular, we will address questions like: How can the Helsinki Final Act shape today’s peace processes, especially in relation to ongoing conflicts (Ukraine, Palestine, Israel)? What role did diplomacy play in the 20th century and how has it evolved since then? How did the Helsinki Act influence the perception of the power that diplomacy can have? What did security mean in 1975? What does it mean today? How did the spirit of Helsinki defeat communist dictatorships? What role did civil society play? How did the Helsinki agreement change the view of the human rights and their impact going forwards?
These and other questions will be raised during the discussion panels and workshops.
As every year the participants of the symposium will have an opportunity to visit memory places and museums important for Helsinki’s local history. The topics of the visits will relate to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)meeting in 1975, Finish–Estonian relations during the 20th century, Civil war in 1918 and Finland during Cold War times.
One of the most important aims of the annual symposium is to improve networking between the representatives of institutions dealing with 20th-century history. This includes representatives of governmental and international bodies as well as history professors, teachers and individuals interested an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and improve their skills. It also presents a range of possibilities for collaborative partnerships, applications and projects for interested individuals and organisations.
Dates: 10 — 13 June 2025
To commemorate the Helsinki Final Act signed on 1 August 1975, we honour Helsinki’s diplomatic achievement. This achievement brought together countries from 33 nations, including Western and Eastern European states, the USA and the Soviet Union, to develop a framework that supported the end of the Cold War.
On the 50th anniversary of this good faith dialogue, the European Network of Remembrance and Solidarity (ERNS) in collaboration with Historians without Borders (HWB), the University of Helsinki, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany, the Leibniz-Institute of European History (IEG), Religion and Cold War Network (ReCoNet ) and the Aue Foundation will explore what became known as ‘the spirit of Helsinki’.
Often described as a masterpiece in ‘diplomatic engineering’, it was meant to reduce the tensions of the Cold War, while others have indicated that it ratified the division of Europe and accepted the Iron Curtain which ended only in 1989.
The dynamic contribution made by a range of civil society and political actors from 1975 will be explored as they continued to promote and embed human rights in Central and Eastern Europe and in political discourse more broadly.
During the symposium we will discuss where the ‘spirit of Helsinki’ has gone and the implications for current global challenges. In particular, we will address questions like: How can the Helsinki Final Act shape today’s peace processes, especially in relation to ongoing conflicts (Ukraine, Palestine, Israel)? What role did diplomacy play in the 20th century and how has it evolved since then? How did the Helsinki Act influence the perception of the power that diplomacy can have? What did security mean in 1975? What does it mean today? How did the spirit of Helsinki defeat communist dictatorships? What role did civil society play? How did the Helsinki agreement change the view of the human rights and their impact going forwards?
These and other questions will be raised during the discussion panels and workshops.
As every year the participants of the symposium will have an opportunity to visit memory places and museums important for Helsinki’s local history. The topics of the visits will relate to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)meeting in 1975, Finish–Estonian relations during the 20th century, Civil war in 1918 and Finland during Cold War times.
One of the most important aims of the annual symposium is to improve networking between the representatives of institutions dealing with 20th-century history. This includes representatives of governmental and international bodies as well as history professors, teachers and individuals interested an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and improve their skills. It also presents a range of possibilities for collaborative partnerships, applications and projects for interested individuals and organisations.
