The Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region was hosted this year by the City of Turku together with the Council of the Baltic Sea States in cooperation with the Ministry For Foreign Affairs of Finland. The Forum was co-financed from the programme of Interreg Baltic Sea Region.
The Forum discussed the effective cooperation during times such as a global pandemic, the emerging areas of cooperation and the future of the EUSBSR in the next decade. Over 800 participants had registered to the event to discuss developments and challenges in the Baltic Sea Region.
Former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, gave an inspiring opening speech and encouraged to keep working together for the benefit of the region. “The sea has given a lot to us, it is now time to be reciprocal,” she reminded.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, drew attention to the importance of regional cooperation in reaching the EU sustainability and climate goals.
After three interesting plenaries, the closing speech was given by Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. He stated that the EUSBSR objectives are highly important to secure the future of the Baltic Sea Region.
The recording of the event is available on Youtube and the workshop compilation can be found here.
Source & more information: https://www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/news-room/news/591138-11th-annual-forum-better-together-even-during-the-pandemic