Andreas Gross, member of the Swiss National Council, member of the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe and political scientist visited Åland recently. Kamala Ramazanova, volunteer at the Åland Island Peace Institute, had the opportunity to interview him about the conflicts in the Caucasus region.The article can be downloaded in pdf here. In 2003 Andreas Gross wrote a report on positive experiences of autonomous regions as a source of inspiration for conflict resolution in Europe. He used some examples in the report and one of them is the case of the Åland Islands.You can see the full report at the homepage of the Council of Europe.

This week-end Turkey and Armenia signed an agreement on normalizing their relations by opening up their borders and starting diplomatic relations. Kamala Ramazanova, volunteer at the Peace Institute has written an article on the event.The article can be downloaded here.

During her LLP Erasmus training at the Åland Islands Peace Institute during the summer of 2009 Klaudia Wiszniewksa, who studies for a master’s degree in political science at University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland, has written a working paper on Polands view of the North Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea.The working paper can be downloaded here.

When Nobel Prize winner, President Martti Ahtisaari visited Åland in connection to a meeting of the Nordic Council 29-30.9.2009, Åland Island Peace Institute volunteer and Azeri journalist Kamala Ramazanova got the opportunity to ask him about the Nagorno Karabakh question:

The approachment between Turkey and Armenia will affect the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict:

“I definitely believe that normalization of the relation between Turkey and Armenia would be a very positive contribution to solving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. So, that will also help us to look at the Nagorno Karabakh problem in a new perspective”, said Ahtisaari.

According to him, it is an important thing is when one try to get a solution that one gets involved, whoever does the negotiations or helps in the mediation process requires the main countries' support. If those who do matter are not supporting you, you can’t succeed.

“In every conflict the role of America is rather crucial. You have to get them to support”, noted Ahtisaari.

Ahtisaari also said that the conflict depends on the relationship between the major powers.

“Hopefully we will see improvement. Relationship between West and East, Russia and the rest, was not the best possible when looking for a Kosovo solution. The financial crisis has also helped us in that sense that people realized we need each other much more”.

With regard to the meeting of the Nordic Council of Ministers on Åland on 29 September 2009, the Ålandic newspapers have published a debate article by the Åland Islands Peace Institute's director Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark. Read the article here.

On August 18th, the Åland Islands Peace Institute invited Aud Lise Norheim to speak about her experiences as a Norwegian diplomat in Mariehamn’s City Library. Aud Lise Norheim can look back on 20 years in the Norwegian civil service and draw from a rich career in international diplomacy. In Mariehamn she shared her experiences with, among others, 24 young women from Scandinavia and the Caucasus who seized their chance to hear Aud Lise answer the question “How can a small country make a difference for peace?”, or what is Norway’s recipe for itsrelative success as a mediator in violent conflicts? Aud Lise Norheim sees her benefit as a Norwegian Ambassador in the fact that she can “talk to everybody”. Considering the complexity of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East this is a status not shared by many.A summary of the speech can be found here.

On the 1st to 2nd of September the Åland Islands Peace Institute, together with the Japan Local Government Centre (London), is organising a seminar on the theme “Transforming the relationship with Central Government”, in Mariehamn, Åland. The purpose is to compare the two island regions since they show interesting similarities and differences. The invited speakers from Okinawa, Japan, and Åland, Finland, will discuss issues concerning economy, peace and politics.

The comparison focuses on the self-governing, demilitarized Åland region and the Ryukyu islands southwest of the Japanese mainland in the Pacific Ocean. The islands with 1,4 million inhabitants are a popular tourist resort and have a language and culture distinct from the mainland. The U.S. military presence in Okinawa after World War 2 has had great impact on Okinawa’s social, economic, and cultural development.  For the self-sustaining development of Okinawa, Okinawa is setting up a centre for IT industry accumulation and an institute of science and technology. Okinawa has a special free trade zone since 1999 to promote industry and trade.

The seminar is open to the ublic, but will be kept small, why interested participants are required to apply to petra(at)peace.ax.

The seminar programme can be downloaded here.

 

The Norwegian ambassdor in Beirut, Lebanon, will give a public speech at the City library in Mariehamn, Åland, on the 18th of August at 13.30-15.00. The ambassador will speak on the importance of continuous dialogue as a peresiquite for peace making and will share her experiences from a long career around the world, including work in the Middle East and South Africa. The name of the lecture is 'How  can a small country make a difference for peace?'.

On June 20th 2009, the World Refugee Day was observed around the world. On this day, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) draws attention to the plight of the 42 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes and are now in need of protection.The Åland Islands Peace Institute sees the day as a time to reflect on Åland as both a host society for refugees and a model for preventing displacement. Researchers linked to the Åland Islands Peace Institute have jointly written an article on the issue.The article can be found here.

 

Monday 1st of June from 1 to 3.30 pm the Europe information in cooperation with the Åland Islands Peace Institute will arrange a seminar on european security politics in the library of Mariehamn.Speakers are Markus Lyra from the Finnish foreign ministry and Nils Daag from the Swedish department of foreign affairs. The director of the Peace Institute, Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark will comment.The seminar will be held in Swedish.

 

What effects does European security cooperation have on Åland’s demilitarisation? The Åland Islands Peace Institute’s invited the public to discuss this question at the seminar “Åland’s demilitarisation – self‐evident or threatened?” where both the threats and opportunities of enhanced security cooperation were discussed.Around 35 persons came together at the Handelshögskola in Mariehamn to participate in the seminar on Monday evening, March 30th – Åland’s Demilitarisation Day. Among the issues discussed were Thorvald Stoltenberg’s recent report on enhanced Nordic security cooperation, the European security cooperation, enhanced by the Treaty of Lisbon, Finland’s partnership for peace with NATO and a possible future Finnish Nato membership. A summary of the content of the seminar can be found here.

On the Day of the demilitarisation, 30th of March, the Åland Ilsnads Peace institute is arranging a seminar on Åland's demilitarization - self evident or threatened? Is the demilitarization and neutralization of Åland affected by the security co-operation within Europe? The seminar will be held in Swedish in Ålands Handelsläroverk at Östra Skolgatan 2 Monday 30th March at 6.00 p.m.

Between 9th and 13th march 2009 the United States Institute of Peace organized the course “Mediating Violent Conflict” in Washington D.C. as part of its conflict management training programme. The course aimed at providing an overview of mediation in contemporary international and intrastate conflict, situating mediation in a larger peacemaking or international affairs context and at building competences for practicing mediation. Conflict management education and research into peace and conflict are among the core activities of the Åland Islands Peace Institute and hence the Institute’s participant Sarah Stephan did not miss this chance to learn more about mediation in sensitive inter- and intrastate conflict settings.Sarahs reflections on the course content are found here.

Ålands demilitarisation - self-evident or threatened?How does European security cooperation influence Åland's demilitarisation and neutralisation?On monday 30 march 2009, the Ålandic Demilitarisation Day, the Åland Islands Peace Institute arranges a seminar and debate at Ålands Lyceum, beginning at 6pm. Among the speakers is Erik Erroll, chief of the strategy department of the Finnish Defence University in Helsinki. For more information please contact Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark tel. 21960 or Anna-Lena Sjölund tel.23238. Come and celebrate Demilitarisation Day!

The Åland Islands Peace Institute's university trainee Gustav Blomberg participated in the International Peace Bureau's  seminar on terrorism, disarmament and poverty in Copenhagen on 14-15 November.Read Gustav's article on the conference in Swedish here.

The Peace Institutes volunteer Tamra Grigoryeva has attended the 4th to 5th of December ministerial council in Helsinki. She agrees with the word of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Alexander Stubb at the close of the meeting:Although the meeting failed on many initiatives, mainly on political declaration and the decision on holding an OSCE summit, yet the spirit of Helsinki has revitalized the OSCE, and the meeting of foreign ministers gave new impetus to discussions on European security challenges.Her article from the meeting can be found here.

Last week a 300 page manual on internally displaced persons, written by Rhodri C. Williams, who is a guest researcher at the Åland Islands Peace Institute, was presented at the Oslo Conference on Ten Yers of Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. This manual is providing guidance to national authorities seeking to prepare and enact domestic legislation and policies addressing internal displacement in their country. It is presenting advice on how to shape laws and policies addressing the protection, ensuring the rights and assistance needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The Manual is largely based on the experience of some twenty countries that actually have passed laws and policies on IDPs already.More information on the manual can be found here. More information on the conference and on IDP's can be found here.