27 years after the BSPC was launched on the initiative of the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, Mr. Kalevi Sorsa, BSPC President Jörgen Pettersson pointed out with a view to the upcoming annual conference, that the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Åland on 26–28 August 2018 will offer dialogue, debate, solutions, friendship and a strong will to make the Baltic Sea more prosperous than ever before. He invited to participate in this process.
In an article of Baltic RIM Economies he underlined that a fair solution to any challenge can only be achieved by dialogue and cooperation, particularly in times of crisis.
He explained on the basis of the history of the Åland Islands how they developed from crisis to the ‘Islands of Peace’. He also emphasized, that the ‘Åland Example’ is living proof of a functional crisis management and the fact that discussions and agreements can be reached even when circumstances are challenging. He also pointed out the crucial foundation of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference as a political platform for cooperation, for commitment and for competence in the political dialogue of parliaments, governments and civil societies in the Baltic Sea region and explained the priority issues for the BSPC during the Åland Islands Presidency in 2018.
The whole article can be found here (www.utu.fi/pei. Jörgen Pettersson. From crisis to success, how Åland. became the Islands of Peace. Expert article • 2259).