Baltic Sea states meet in Riga to discuss pollution

Environment ministers from countries on the Baltic Sea convened in Riga on Thursday to discuss pollution, reported dpa.

"The cleanliness of the Baltic Sea is our joint goal," Latvian Environment Minister Inga Bērziņa said after a meeting of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM).

Berzina said that marine pollution had declined, but only to a very limited extent. HELCOM executive secretary Rüdiger Strempel said the sea continued to be under enormous pressure.

According to a report, the sea's condition has scarcely improved over recent years. The report, which covers the period 2016 to 2021, took the view that regional measures could be effective.

"We have to finally stop always only describing the problems, and start to act," Tobias Goldschmidt, environment minister of the north-western German state of Schleswig-Holstein, told dpa in Riga.

"We have to show that the Baltic is also a sea that we care about together and that getting this abused sea back on track is also a peace project," Goldschmidt added.

He identified the main problem facing the sea as eutrophication – the accumulation of nutrients leading to the growth of microorganisms.

HELCOM was set up in 1974 and is currently marking its 50th anniversary. It is made up of all the countries with a Baltic Sea coastline, but has suspended cooperation with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.