Security and Defence in the Baltic Sea Region
Some of my thoughts on the ’Security and Defence in the Baltic Sea Region’ -conference: The Baltic sea is more secure than it has ever been.
Although NATO has made our regions safer than it’s ever been, we should not be complacent. The threat has not gone away as evidenced by the recent news of Russias unilateral intent to create confusion about the borders in the Baltic sea.
The US Ambassador Hickey reiterated the States continued support to the alliance. We hope that this support continues despite any future changes in the US administration.
Jessikka Aro gave a wonderful lecture on the methods of Russian information warfare. It is now more important than ever to educate our people on modern media literacy to combat any foreign attempts at influencing public opinion.
13:00 Introductory remarks
Sven Sakkov, Estonian Ambassador to Finland
Sirle Sööt, Chair, Estonian World Council, Association of Estonians in Sweden
Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia (Livestream)
13:30 KEYNOTE
Douglas Hickey, US Ambassador to the Republic of Finland
Introduced by Tuuli-Emily Liivat, Global Estonian Youth Network
14:00 PANEL DISCUSSION: “NATO’s Role in Baltic Sea Region Security”
Martin Roger, Director-General for NATO and Trans-AtlanticRelations, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Joakim Paasikivi, Lieutenant Colonel,Swedish Defence University
Andres Kasekamp, Professor of History, Chair of Estonian Studies,Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto
Moderator Sven Sakkov, Estonian Ambassador to Finland
15:00 Coffee Break
15:30 KEYNOTE: “Russian Information Warfare as Security Threat”
Jessikka Aro, Finnish journalist and writer, author of “Putin’s World War. Russia’s Covert Operations to Destroy the West”
16:15 PANEL DISCUSSION: “Civil Preparedness and Disinformation”
Jay Janzen, Strategic Communications Director (J10) at NATO
Jakub Kalensky, Senior fellow, Atlantic Council Eurasia Centre, former Deputy Director of COI Hybrid Influence
Marko Mihkelson, Member of Estonian Parliament, Chair of Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee
Moderator Marcus Kolga, President, DisInfoWatch, Fellow McDonald Laurier Institute, Central and Eastern European Council in Canada
17:30 Closing Remarks
Ilona Kolberg, Network of Estonian Organisations in Finland
Märt Vesinurm, Network of Estonian Organisations in Finland
Conference moderator: Märt Vesinurm, Network of Estonian Organisations in Finland