Baltic medal for Wallmark

28.10.16 | News
Hans Wallmark
Photographer
Torkil Sørensen
Hans Wallmark, a member of the Presidium of the Nordic Council, was awarded the Medal of the Baltic Assembly during its Session in Riga, 27-28 October, just days before the Session of the Nordic Council in Copenhagen, an act that serves as further proof of the strong bonds between the two bodies.

The medal was awarded to Hans Wallmark for his commitment to co-operation around the Baltic Sea.

On Friday 28 October, the Session agenda included a debate by ministers on a range of internal Baltic issues, as well as more international questions such as migration and funding for the EU's partner countries to the east.

Wallmark on the Baltic

The Nordic Council was represented in Riga by Wille Rydman (Finland) and Hans Wallmark (Sweden).

Wallmark’s speech concentrated on the increasingly tense security situation in the Baltic Sea, a theme also discussed at the Nordic Council defence conference in Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, Denmark, on 10 October.

“With the illegal annexation of Crimea, the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has cost over 10,000 lives and 20,000 wounded, the stationing of Iskander missiles, increasing surveillance and incidents in the countries around us, we have clearly entered into a different security situation, a new and deteriorating one,” he said.

Wallmark also stressed the importance of unity within the EU and a unanimous response to Russia.