Round table discussion
November 19, 2012, Europahuset (House of Europe), Regeringsgatan 65, Stockholm
NB8 (Nordic Baltic Eight) are eight Nordic and Baltic countries – Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, which regularly cooperate in various areas and at different political levels since 1992. Each year the NB8 cooperation agenda is being coordinated by a different country of the region. In 2012 the task of the NB8 coordination is assigned to Lithuania. The priorities for the 2012 NB8 coordination are as follows: 1) closer cooperation between the Baltic countries and the Nordic Council of Ministers; 2) closer cooperation of businesses, advancing the digital market; 3) continuous cooperation with the partner countries; 4) advancing the Nordic-Baltic information space. Next year Sweden will succeed the coordination of NB8 activities. The main aim of this round table discussion is to overview the main results of Lithuanian coordination, to identify where we stand now as well as to look way ahead towards Swedish priorities in 2013. The forum would allow sharing views on these issues from official and academic perspectives.
AGENDA
13.00 – 13.30 Registration
13.30 - 13.50 Welcome speeches by Ambassador of Lithuania Eitvydas Bajarunas and Pierre Schellekens, Head of EC Representation in Sweden
13.50 - 14.05 Nijole Žambaite, Ambassador, Coordinator of the Nordic and Baltic cooperation, MFA of Lithuania
14.05 – 14.20 Mindaugas Jurkynas, Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University
14.20-14.35 Dr. Mike Winnerstig, Dep. Director of Research, Department of Security Policy, FOI
14.35 – 14.45 Representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden
14.45-15.30 Discussion