Baltic Rim Economies 3/2026 focuses on transatlantic cooperation.
“We Finns often quote President J. K. Paasikivi when emphasizing the need for an honest assessment of reality. In his Independence Day speech on 6 December 1944, after the war between Finland and the Soviet Union had ended, he said that “the beginning of all wisdom is the recognition of facts”.
Mari Kiviniemi
Former Prime Minister of Finland
Helsinki, Finland
“In 1989, the German rock band Scorpions released the song Wind of Change, which reflected the optimism and hopes prevailing in the West regarding the political changes taking place in the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. The Iron Curtain was falling, and it appeared that the USSR—and, following its collapse, the states that emerged from it—would rapidly develop into liberal democracies.”
Artis Pabriks
Former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Defence of Latvia
Adviser to MEP Ivars Ijabs
Latvia
“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022, initially exposed a clear divide between the democratic and autocratic worlds. The United States, the European Union and other democratic partners demonstrated remarkable unity in providing Ukraine with political, economic and military support.
Yuriy Yakymenko
President
The Razumkov Centre
Ukraine
“When the speeches end, the laser finally cuts into the first sheet of steel at a shipyard in Pori, Finland. The applause almost drowns out the sound of the machine. Finnish and American flags hang side by side above the steel. Government representatives, shipbuilders and representatives of the United States Coast Guard have gathered to mark the beginning of construction of a new Arctic Security Cutter. I can feel the exitment in the air.”
Minna Arve
CEO
Business Turku
Finland
“We Finns often quote President J. K. Paasikivi when emphasizing the need for an honest assessment of reality. In his Independence Day speech on 6 December 1944, after the war between Finland and the Soviet Union had ended, he said that “the beginning of all wisdom is the recognition of facts”.
Mari Kiviniemi
Former Prime Minister of Finland
Helsinki, Finland
“In 1989, the German rock band Scorpions released the song Wind of Change, which reflected the optimism and hopes prevailing in the West regarding the political changes taking place in the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. The Iron Curtain was falling, and it appeared that the USSR—and, following its collapse, the states that emerged from it—would rapidly develop into liberal democracies.”
Artis Pabriks
Former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Defence of Latvia
Adviser to MEP Ivars Ijabs
Latvia
“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022, initially exposed a clear divide between the democratic and autocratic worlds. The United States, the European Union and other democratic partners demonstrated remarkable unity in providing Ukraine with political, economic and military support.
Yuriy Yakymenko
President
The Razumkov Centre
Ukraine
“When the speeches end, the laser finally cuts into the first sheet of steel at a shipyard in Pori, Finland. The applause almost drowns out the sound of the machine. Finnish and American flags hang side by side above the steel. Government representatives, shipbuilders and representatives of the United States Coast Guard have gathered to mark the beginning of construction of a new Arctic Security Cutter. I can feel the exitment in the air.”
Minna Arve
CEO
Business Turku
Finland
