During the conference “Eighty Years After 1944: Then and Now” in Vilnius, NFP BaltHerNet’s annual general meeting was also held on June 27th. The idea for the creation of the organization came about in 2006 in Tartu at a conference dedicated to the cultural heritage of the Baltic diaspora, held at the Estonian Literary Museum. The organization was established in 2008. The contacts made and developed through the network have led to many different projects and ventures, which have all helped to preserve, further research, and introduce the history of the Baltic diaspora.
Piret Noorhani, the president of the organization, focused firstly on the history of the organization and followed that up with an overview of the activities of the past year and the financial state. The audit committee report was delivered by Riina Reinvelt.
Former members of the board were voted in again: president Piret Noorhani (Estonian Museum Canada
VEMU), vice president Jolanta Budriuniene (Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania), secretary Karin Kiisk (Estonian National Museum), and board member Birgit Kibal (National Archives of Estonia). A heartfelt thanks went to long-time vice president Kristine Bekere (Latvia) for her contributions to the organization. In the role of vice president, the new Latvian representative Inese Kalnina from the National Archives of Latvia was voted in. Maarja Merivoo-Parro, who stepped down from the board, was also thanked for her contributions and organizing the BaltHerNet youth seminars for many years. A new audit committee was also voted on, including the following members: Tiiu Kravtsev (chairwoman), Riina Reinvelt, and Gristel Ramler.
The main goals for the next year are to continue the development of the balther.net portal and continue to publish the newsletter. The 2025 summer school will take place in mid-June in Rakvere, Estonia. We also hope to restore the tradition of the youth seminars next year, under the leadership of a new individual.