Riga+6 will revisit the Riga conference and look at what has changed since

10.04.2026 - Six months after the NordAN conference in Riga, we will gather again online for Riga+6 on May 13, from 10.00 to 12.30. The original Riga conference focused on the growing gap between health evidence and political action, and on how alcohol and drug policy across Northern and Eastern Europe is being shaped by instability, political pressure, shrinking prevention capacity, and competing priorities. Riga+6 is meant as a follow-up to that discussion, returning to some of the same themes and asking what has happened since.

The programme reflects that purpose closely. Latvia will once again be in focus, with updates from both government and civil society on recent alcohol policy developments. The Nordic section will widen the lens, looking at current pressures in Finland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden, where monopoly systems, prevention traditions and public health protections are increasingly being challenged in different ways. The meeting will also include an update on NordAN’s drug policy work, a return to the questions raised in Riga about alcohol, drugs and public health in Ukraine, and a contribution from WHO on how the SAFER approach can be translated from broad principles into practical action.

The SAFER session also forms part of a broader thread that has developed across three NordAN meetings. At the Riga conference, Dag Rekve helped open up the SAFER initiative for the network in a broader strategic sense. During the NordAN Open Day in Copenhagen, he brought the discussion closer to the local level, focusing more specifically on what localising SAFER can mean in practice. Now, at Riga+6, the discussion will move one step further, showing through one country example how this kind of approach can actually be implemented. In that sense, the SAFER contribution is not a standalone item, but part of an ongoing process that has been developing across the network step by step.

Riga+6 is not intended as a separate event detached from Riga, but as a continuation of that conversation. It is a chance to revisit the concerns that shaped the conference, compare developments across countries, and carry the discussion forward toward the next NordAN conference in the Faroe Islands. The programme will close with a look at the Faroe Islands after the recent elections and a brief overview of what lies ahead for NordAN’s next annual gathering.

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Agenda: LATVIA

Recent Developments in Alcohol Policy in Latvia - Ginta Egle, Senior Expert, Department of Mental Health, Addiction Prevention and Integrated Services

Grassroots perspectives on alcohol policy changes in Latvia - Elena Zviedre, Tavai Brivibai

NORDICS Finland: Liberalization threatens monopoly and youth protection.

Norway: Farm‑sales risk undermining alcohol monopoly.

Iceland: Illegal online sales erode prevention model.

Sweden: Political shift weakens Nordic alcohol policy.

DRUGS

Update on the NordAN drug policy document - Peter Moilanen, NPC

UKRAINE Six months on: Alcohol, drugs, and public health in Ukraine - Jarno Habicht, WHO Ukraine

From Estonia to Ukraine – One picture one story - Viljam Borissenko, Public Foundation of Hope

SAFER

Dag Rekve, WHO Geneva - Localising SAFER: From principles to practice 

FAROE ISLANDS

The Faroe Islands after the recent elections – Edva Jacobsen, Blue Cross Faroe Islands

Looking ahead to the NordAN conference in Faroe Islands. A brief overview of the programme - Lauri Beekmann, NordAN