Kastelholm Talks 2016: A Sustainable Peace around the Baltic Sea – New Times, New Issues.
What are currently the biggest threats towards our security in the Baltic Sea region and how can we explore options to work toward a more peaceful future? These were the main questions during the Kastelholm talks in 2016, which were held under the patronage of President Tarja Halonen on 30th March at the Castle of Kastelholm on the Åland Islands. The title was ”A Sustainable Peace around the Baltic Sea – New Times, New Issues”. The talks were held on the day of the Åland Islands’ demilitarisation and neutralisation. The special status of the Åland Islands was established as an alternative to military solutions, which was one of the starting points for the Kastelholm talks. President Tarja Halonen is the pa-tron of the Kastelholm talks and par-ticipated actively in the discussion as a member of the panel, as she did in 2014. The other members of the panel were 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, Profes-sor of International Law at Stockholm University and Hanna Ojanen, Jean Monnet Professor at the University […]