“It is fundamentally important to ensure that all stakeholders of the Region – from EU- as well as non-EU– countries – can participate in the work on an equal footing. We strongly advocate the continuous alignment of the EU Strategy with the Northern Dimension policy, which constitutes a general framework for cooperation between EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland.” This message was emphasized by Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, in her address to the concluding session of the 1st Annual Forum on the EU Strategy of the Baltic Sea Region. “We can do better in coordinating our various activities in order to avoid duplication and boost the collective impact of our efforts“, she continued.
The Forum gathered some 500 participants from virtually all stakeholder organizations in the Baltic Sea Region. The purpose of the Forum was to get an overall picture of the progress of implementation of the EU Strategy and its 15 priority areas.
“I believe that this Forum can serve as a kind of a ‘town hall meeting‘, where citizens, experts and decision-makers can congregate and exchange opinions and ideas. A sincere and expanded dialogue with citizens, NGOs, civic organizations and others should be an integral part of the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region”, Gestrin stressed. “At the end of the day, the value and success of the Strategy will be judged not by its internal logic, but by its capacity to improve the welfare – in a wide sense – of the citizens of the Region”, she concluded.