Jan Eliasson, former Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Sweden and President of the UN General Assembly, visited Åland and the Åland Islands Peace Institute on Octobre 8th and 9th. In a meeting with staff and employees at the Peace Institute Eliasson showed great interest in the Åland example and pointed out the possibilities for Åland to enhance its position as an internationally recognised example of peaceful conflict resolution as well as taking an active part in mediation and conflict resolution on the international level.
On the 8th Eliasson held a speech for over 150 enthusiastic alanders in the library of Mariehamn. The headline was Reflections on mediation and conflict resolution, personal experiences from Iran/Iraq, Nagorno-Karabach and Darfur. Eliasson stood up to the expectations, personal and engaging he provided many examples and anecdotes from his rich source of experiences around the world.
Eliasson also gave a short version of his lecture on the whos, whens and hows of mediation, normally held for students at the universities of Gothenburg and Uppsala where he is, respectively has been, engaged as a guest professor.
