Šiaurės Europos aktualijos

[Big Cat]

United Nordic Federation book - English version now released:

[Big Cat]

Estonian academics see both opportunity and danger in idea of the United Nordic Federation

The idea of a United Nordic Federation 20 to 30 years down the line, which author Gunnar Wetterberg has labelled a ‘realistic utopia’, has earned a great deal of attention in Estonia. The online version of the Postimees newspaper dedicated pages to it and surveyed scientists in Estonia about the potential impact of such a federation on the Baltic States.

Tallinn could form part of one of Northern Europe’s main regions of growth, stretching from Copenhagen through Stockholm to Helsinki and the Estonian capital, says Jyrki Käkönen, professor of International Relations at Tallinn University. Speaking to Estonia’s biggest daily newspaper Postimees, Käkönen calls this axis the ‘Nordic Blue Banana’.

“If Estonia was sidelined, it could become truly marginalised,” said Käkönen. “In which case it would be left outside the Copenhagen–Helsinki axis looking in.”

At the same time, the professor feels that it is more than possible that the United Nordic Federation would not only include Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, but also the Baltic States. “That said, if you think about developments after the Cold War, the picture is a little more pessimistic,” he said. “The Nordic countries weren’t particularly interested in integrating the Baltic States into the Nordic Council, after all, but instead set up the Council of the Baltic Sea States.”

If the five Nordic countries were to unite and Russia failed to amend its approach, the future for the three Baltic States between them could look darker than if the idea of the federation came to nothing, says University of Tartu political scientist Heiko Pääbo.

Pääbo says the risk could be mitigated by the major financial interests of the Nordic countries in the region. “Although having said that, we’ve seen with Nord Stream just how easily financial interests can be bought and compensated.”

In response to the Postimees debate, the political scientist asked why those five countries alone should unite as opposed to also including the Baltic States. Pääbo explained that the image of the Baltic States among ordinary Scandinavians tends to be a restricted and rather negative one: “We might be fine partners to them, but we’re not seen as equals.”

Last autumn, during the annual Nordic Council session, the well-known Swedish columnist Gunnar Wetterberg sparked lively debate in the Nordic region, as well as in other countries on the Baltic Sea, by proposing that Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland unite to form one federation. He justified the notion by saying that in the light of globalisation it would be one of the most effective ways for the region to compete with the major powers.

Wetterberg had developed the idea further by the time of this year’s Nordic Council session, publishing it as the Nordic Council of Ministers' and the Nordic Council's Yearbook 2010.

[Big Cat]

PM Kubilius: Lithuania’s Direction: Northwest. Target: Scandinavia

Read a fragment from a speech delivered by the Lithuanian Prime Minister, Andrius Kublius, to a youth convention in Lithuania on 11 December 2010. What direction Lithuania should take?

[Big Cat]

JAV ambasadorius išjuokė Šiaurės šalių gynybos paktą

Pasak buvusio Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų ambasadoriaus Norvegijoje Bensono Whitney, siūlymai iš penkių Šiaurės šalių suburti mini NATO aljansą yra „svajonės poliariniame rūke“, tačiau tai gali būti naudinga „poliarinių meškų ir rusų stebėjimui", rašo „EUobserver“.

[Silber418]

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Pasak buvusio Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų ambasadoriaus Norvegijoje Bensono Whitney <...>

Po šio sakinio praradau susidomėjimą straipsniu.

[Big Cat]

Šita info iš Wikileaks'o kablogramų. Jis viešai niekada nėra to sakęs

[Big Cat]

Pora foto iš pasaulio galingųjų susitikimo, apie kurį jau visi žinote







Kaip suprantu, toks naujas formatas taps reguliarių kasmetinių susitikimų pagrindu. Kitas UK-Nordic-Baltic Summit vyks Švedijoje. Nesvarbu, kokia šių susitikimų substancija, tačiau Lietuvai vien dėl to, jog ji pradedama brandinti kaip šiaurės šalis - didžiulis pasiekimas.

[Egiuxz]

Puiku, bet kažin ar tai taps kitų pasiekimų priežastimi. Ir beje, galėtų įvykt nors ir Šiaurės bei Balkanų (kaip šiuo atveju Šiaurė, Anglija ir Baltijos šalys) šalių bendri susitikimai, bet Graikija šiaurės šalimi netaps.

[Big Cat]

Kaip sako, su kuo sutapsi, toks ir tapsi...

[Egiuxz]

Na taip, bet manau, kad to tapimo bent jau mes tikrai dar nesulauksim.

[Big Cat]

Nu, krutam, krutam po truputį - norėtųsi, aišku, daug greičiau, bet juk ir Maskvą ne iškart pastatė

[Egiuxz]

Krutėt krutam, bet kažkodėl per lėtai. Per daug lėtai.

[Big Cat]

Aš negaliu patikėt


Nordic military welcomes Baltic states on board

TALLINN (AFP) - Nordic nations on Friday invited the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to join a body that aims to smooth cooperation among the region's armed forces, the Estonian military said.

Lieutenant Commander Ingrid Muehling told AFP that the Baltic trio were formally asked to join NORDEFCO at the close of a two-day meeting of army leaders in the Estonian capital Tallinn.

"The head of the Swedish defence forces, General Sverker Goeranson, presented the Baltic states with an invitation to join NORDEFCO in behalf of all the chiefs of the Nordic defence forces," said Muehling, who is spokeswoman of the Estonian military.

"The Nordic defence cooperation framework NORDEFCO was established in 2009 to promote and strengthen military cooperation between Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland on strategy, foreign missions, training, joint development of some military schools and planning," she added.

In a statement, Goeranson said it was in the interest of Nordic nations to ensure stability and security throughout the region.

NORDEFCO's membership cuts across international organisations.

Norway and Iceland remain outside the European Union, unlike Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Baltic trio. But Sweden and Finland are not in NATO, while the other six nations are.

Estonia, Latvia and Estonia won independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991 after five decades of Kremlin rule. They joined NATO and the EU in 2004.

"We are linked to the Nordic states through culture and history, we understand each other well and share the same values," Estonian chief of staff Lieutenant General Ants Laaneots told reporters.

"We are all interested in maintaining security in the Baltic Sea region, which is one of the safest the the world at the moment," Laaneots added.

The Baltic trio, with a total population of 6.7 million and a professional military of 20,500, have rocky relations with their giant former master Russia, which only withdrew its troops from their territory in 1994.

[Egiuxz]

Kaziui Pakštui patiktų

[Kaštonas]

Asmeniskai mane , ne itin traukia bandymas prisigretinti pries Siaures europos. Grynai ekonominiais rodikliais pagristi santykiai, tai taip, bet tikiuosi nebus bandoma tapatintis ir kulturiskai. Labai jau monotoniskas tas regionas. Nuvaziuokit tarkim i Helsiniki, ar netgi Stokholma, o veliau i Praha ar Budapesta, pastarieji miestai ir salys gyevna zimiai idomesni gyvenima

[Silber418]

Asmeniskai mane , ne itin traukia bandymas prisigretinti pries Siaures europos. Grynai ekonominiais rodikliais pagristi santykiai, tai taip, bet tikiuosi nebus bandoma tapatintis ir kulturiskai. Labai jau monotoniskas tas regionas. Nuvaziuokit tarkim i Helsiniki, ar netgi Stokholma, o veliau i Praha ar Budapesta, pastarieji miestai ir salys gyevna zimiai idomesni gyvenima

Būtų čia klimatas kaip Pietų arba bent Vidurio Europoje, gal ir būtų daugiau veiksmo gatvėse, bet šiaip, skųstis labai kuo nėra, nebent savo charakteriu.

[Lettered]

Asmeniskai mane , ne itin traukia bandymas prisigretinti pries Siaures europos. Grynai ekonominiais rodikliais pagristi santykiai, tai taip, bet tikiuosi nebus bandoma tapatintis ir kulturiskai. Labai jau monotoniskas tas regionas. Nuvaziuokit tarkim i Helsiniki, ar netgi Stokholma, o veliau i Praha ar Budapesta, pastarieji miestai ir salys gyevna zimiai idomesni gyvenima

Tik iš pirmo žvilgsnio taip atrodo. Iš tikrųjų yra atvirkščiai.

[Silber418]

Tik iš pirmo žvilgsnio taip atrodo. Iš tikrųjų yra atvirkščiai.

Kaip kam. Priklauso nuo to, ko žmogui riekia - sudalyvauti ekskursijoje, kažką sužinoti, pailsėti, tiesiog pasigrožėti architektūra ir aplinka arba išgerti pigaus alkoholio, susirasti nuotykių ir grįžus namo viską pamiršti. Šiaip, visa tai įmanoma ir Šiaurės Europos miesutose.
Matau, lietuviai dar nepripratę linksmintis brangesniuose Skandinavijos miestuose, todėl jiems atrodo, kad ten nieko nevyksta. O barai, klubai, kavinės, kuriose siūlomos rafinuotesnės pramogos niekada tuščios nebūna.

[Depeche]

Čia tik sentimentai, bet man Šiaurė (Skandinavija), tai kaip gryno oro gurkšnis sėdint Rusijai po papu.

[Silber418]

Čia tik sentimentai, bet man Šiaurė (Skandinavija), tai kaip gryno oro gurkšnis sėdint Rusijai po papu.

O kur toks yra?