Report no 1-2018
The Contact Group between the Foreign Ministry and the Åland Government 20 years

The Contact Group between the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Government of Åland was founded in 1998. On the basis of protocols, activity plans and reports, as well as interviews, Susann Simolin, has written a report about the first 20 years of the group. The report was written as an assignment from the Contact Group to the Ålands Islands Peace Institute.
The group was formed after Åland’s long-standing request for such a group, The Ministry for Foreign Affairs endorsed the idea with then Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen at the forefront. The purpose of the Contact Group is to ”develop and increase the use of the Åland Example in international contexts as well as to further enhance information about and contacts with Åland”.
Throughout the years, the group has presented the Åland Example through seminars and collaborating on visits, and by trying to ensure that the employees and missions of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs have access to knowledge and updated information. An important task has been ensuring that sufficient information about Åland is available on different websites. The group has been a forum for contact between Åland and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and has also had contact with other ministries and organisations in Finland.
The group has maintained its aims and most of the goals that were originally laid out in the first activity plan of the group (2002-2003). Over time, however, the agenda has widened significantly. Interviews have shown that later members of the group have a broader view of the group’s functions and mandate than was the case in the early years. In the beginning, the group focused on disseminating information about the Åland Example around the world. Over time, the agenda has started to include issues concerning the status of Åland, the Swedish language, and demilitarisation. Since 2012, the agenda has been further deepened by treaty issues starting to be discussed in detail. Alongside the widening and deepening of the agenda, the topics that dominated at the start are assigned proportionally less space in the work of the group.
(The report is available in Swedish only.)