Estonia-Latvia-Russia Programme celebrates its Closing Conference in Riga, Latvia

The Closing event marks the final phase of the Programme and takes place to celebrate all achievements gained since 2010 and discuss new opportunities for the cross border cooperation until the year 2020.

The conference will be opened by Mr Kaspars Gerhards, Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia, Mr Arto Aas, Minister of Public Administration of the Republic of Estonia, Mr Vladimir Kuchiev, Deputy Head of Department for Regional and Cross Border Cooperation Development, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and Ms Inna Šteinbuka, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Latvia.

The panel discussion will allow the representatives of National Authorities, European Commission and regional politicians to evaluate the impact of the Programme on the regional development and share information on the future support in the cross roads between the EU and Russian Federation provided by the European Union.

On this occasion, the Programme photo album will be presented that highlights valuable results and tangible benefits of the 50 projects implemented by 241 partner organisations from Estonia, Latvia, Russia and financially supported by the Programme during the 2007-2013 period.

In the Awarding Ceremony nominated projects will be honoured for their exceptional accomplishments throughout the project implementation period in seven nominations.

European Cooperation Day is celebrated for the fourth time in 2015. This year it will be marked in the framework of the Closing event. The aim of this initiative coordinated by INTERACT Programme is to communicate the achievements of European cooperation across borders to the general public.

The Closing conference will be attended by more than 100 representatives from National Authorities, European Commission, regional municipalities, Programme authorities, supported projects, as well as other cross-border cooperation programmes.