28.03.2025

‘The Spirit of Helsinki then and now’ – Registration now open for the 13th European Remembrance Symposium

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, later OSCE), the 13th European Remembrance Symposium will take place in Helsinki from 10 June to 13 June 2025 with a conference on ‘The Spirit of Helsinki then and now’. Interested individuals can register now at the link below. The symposium will bring together contemporary witnesses, political and civil society leaders, academics, and religious actors to reflect on five decades of the CSCE process and its impact on freedom, peace, security, democracy, and human rights in Europe. The event is a co-operation between Historians without Borders in Finland, University of Helsinki, Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz, Aue-Säätiö and ReCoNet.


The symposium will bring together contemporary witnesses, political and civil society leaders, academics and religious actors to reflect on five decades of the CSCE process and its impact on freedom, peace, security, democracy and human rights in Europe. The event is a cooperation between Historians without Borders in Finland, University of Helsinki, Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz, Aue-Säätiö and ReCoNet.

The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship is funding 151 projects across Germany on the history of the GDR and the consequences of the division with 3.9 million euros in 2025. With the international symposium ‘Civil Society Dynamics - 50 Years of the Helsinki Final Act (1975-2025)’, the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) is pooling research on the CSCE conference with funding from the Federal Foundation and shedding light on its significance. IEG Director Johannes Paulmann is responsible for the project. Gregor Feindt, research associate at the IEG, is also involved.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)