“We’re not naive”

28.01.16 | News
Hans Wallmark
Photographer
Johannes Jansson/norden.org
Hans Wallmark on dampened co-operation with Russia.

The Nordic Council, the Baltic Assembly, and Nordic and Baltic members of the European Parliament met in Brussels today to discuss the EU’s eastern neighbours, including Ukraine and Belarus. In this context, the relationship with Russia was also discussed.

Hans Wallmark and Wille Rydman, both members of the Presidium, represented the Nordic Council at the session in Brussels, the primary focus of which was current and future activities between the Nordic and Baltic countries.

“Nordic-Russian relations have been permanently altered due to the situation in Ukraine. Confidence in Russia has collapsed. The threat from Russia is both external, in the form of Russian troops, as well as internal, in the form a powerful propaganda apparatus.

“For this reason, in the last two years we have strengthened our relationship with Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries,” Hans Wallmark explained.

Refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe

“We have enjoyed 200 years of internal peace between the Nordic countries, so we know very well the importance of peaceful relations across borders.

But we’re not naive. ” The situation in Ukraine is a reminder that Europe is not immune to conflicts. Since last year, those of us in Europe have witnessed the ever-deepening conflict in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. This has led to Europe being faced with a refugee problem, since many refugees and migrants are trying to make their way northwards.

“We’ve held parliamentary meetings in co-operation with the Baltic Assembly, the Visegrad countries – including Poland – the Benelux Parliament, and the Eastern Partnership countries,” Wallmark added.

Wille Rydman outlined the Nordic countries’ commitment to the Eastern Partnership countries, including Belarus. The President of the European Parliament’s Belarus delegation, Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, and the head of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ office in Latvia, Jan Widberg, were both present on the day and gave their opinion from the podium.