Call for close Nordic-Baltic partnerships
The Session of the Baltic Assembly in Tallinn, 24-25 November, marked the 20th anniversary of the Baltic States regaining their independence. The Nordic Council's sister organisation was formed on 8 November 1991. The Baltic Assembly is in favour of even closer Nordic-Baltic co-operation.
- Photographer
- Magnus Fröderberg/norden.org
In a speech to the Session, the President of the Nordic Council, Bertel Haarder, recalled attending the opening of Danish cultural institutes in Riga and Tallinn in August 1990. Independence was to follow a year later, and in December 2002 the EU Summit in Copenhagen decided to invite the Baltic and central and eastern European countries to join a new, enlarged Union. Major challenges still lie ahead but the Nordic and Baltic states are now in a position to exert greater influence on the direction of the EU.
Siv Friðleifsdóttir spoke in the debate on a "Baltic Task Force for Health", noting that the Baltic states work more closely with each other on rare conditions than the Nordic countries.
The Nordic Council was also represented by Åsa Thorstensson (Sweden), Christina Gestrin (Finland) and Per-Kristian Foss (Norway). Foss hosted a seminar with representatives of the opposition in Belarus in Vilnius. Lithuania, on 25 October. The next President of the Baltic Assembly, Paulius Saudargas, was also present.
Contacts
Torkil Sørensen
Phone
+45 33 96 04 46
Email
ts@norden.org
