Latvia´s Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis is a cautious optimist regarding the future economic growth in the Baltic States – especially Latvia. At a high-level roundtable discussion at the Baltic Development Forum´s new premises Dombrovskis underlined that cooperation, business and trade in the Baltic Sea Region – plus a high ability to absorb EU regional funds – have made it possible for Latvia to…
Like the ongoing debate on branding and identity in the Baltic Sea Region, top officials are saying that is a necessity to invest in a broader European identity albeit it is a touchy subject. Read this article from EUobserver: By Honor Mahony, EUobserver. 30.03.12 @ 18:03 BRUSSELS – The European Parliament is trying to cultivate a “European identity,” with top officials saying…
From BSSSC Newsletter March 2012 What is happening at the European scene is important for all regions of the Baltic Sea. Decisions taken by ministers in the various council formations oft en have far reaching consequences for regions and their citizens. The priorities of the Danish EU presidency show a clear link between EU policies and renewed economic growth. When…
Don´t try to stop the discussion about a common identity for the Baltic Sea region. Keep on amplifying the dialogues and involving everyone from students to elderly people. That´s a sincere call from Prof. Jörg Häckmann, University of Szczecin, who opposes the report of Prof. Dr. Bernd Henningsen. “The report leaves the reader confused as to whether there is a…
Cutting through 20 years of discussions of constructing a common identity to build a macro-region in the Baltic Sea Region the honorable Prof. Dr. Bernd Henningsen, Humboldt University, Berlin, in an essay, has concluded: There is no common identity: “Just as in the “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, Baltic Sea identity is paraded through the streets under a protective cover –…
Honorary chairman of Baltic Development Forum, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen at an Intergroup meeting in the European Parliament March 6th called for assistance to give new impulses to the process of making the Baltic region concept survive. Said Mr. Ellemann-Jensen: “The governments have been reluctant in setting new and clear goals that would enable benchmarking and evaluation. It is a little sad….
In BDF we realize that the success of investing in the necessary big cross border infrastructure projects on the Top of Europe is very much dependent on success of Europe in general. The Baltic Sea Region can do a lot on its own to become a winner region – and can in fact be proud of its achievement over the…
The idea to build a brand for the Baltic Sea Region has been around for some time now. In this article, published in a special edition of KULTURHAUS BERLIN’s newsletter marking the 20-year celebration of the Council of Baltic Sea States, Hans Brask and Marcus Andersson discuss challenges and opportunities with regard to the branding of the region. After the…
As the last years’ State of the Region reports have shown, the global share of foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows that come to the Baltic Sea Region is falling, a process that is slowly eroding the Region’s share of global inward FDI stock and increasing the challenge of marketing the Region as an attractive FDI destination in an increasingly crowded…
We are witnessing an “up” in relations with Russia, writes Hans Brask in this BSR2011 Editorial. Quite exceptionally all Baltic Sea Region countries are enjoying positive relations with Russia simultaneously. However, there were also other tones to be heard at a recent Kaliningrad conference. And Russia’s plans to construct a nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad could develop into another Nord…