Kastelholm talks 2016: ”A sustainable peace around the Baltic Sea – new times, new issues”
On 30 March 2016, the day of Åland’s demilitarisation, the Kastelholm talks were held for the second time at the Castle of Kastelholm on Åland. This year the topic of the discussion was ”A sustainable peace around the Baltic Sea – new times, new issues”. The Kastelholm talks are held under the patronage of former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen. This year, President Halonen discussed with a panel consisting of Pekka Haavisto, Member of the Parliament of Finland and the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative for Peace Mediation; Lena Ek, chairperson of the Forestry Group Södra and former minister for the environment in Sweden; Said Mahmoudi, professor of international law at Stockholm University and Hanna Ojanen, Jean Monnet professor at the University of Tampere. Associate professor Sia Spilipoulou Åkermark, Research Director at the Åland Islands Peace Institute, acted as the moderator of the event. The discussion was held before an invited audience. Later in the day, a follow-up round table discussion was be held in nearby Restaurant Smakbyn. The panel and the audience from the castle as well as other interested parties participated. At the round table discussion, four commentaters held speeches which were subsequently discussed by the audience. The commentators […]