More than 60 people came together for the birthday reception at BDF premises.
Member of the Board Helle Bechgaard welcomed all guests and began the reception with a moment of silence to honour Chairman Hans Skov Christensen.
The Latvian Ambassador to Denmark Kaspars Ozoliņš honoured BDF’s work by presenting a Certificate of Recognition from the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers, signed by Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.
This was followed by a “Special Edition” of the Ellemann/Lykketoft – (a well-known Foreign Policy TV-Magazine on TV2 News) took place moderated by director Hans Brask.
Former Danish Foreign Minister and Honorary Chairman of BDF Uffe Ellemann-Jensen and Danish Speaker of the Parliament Mogens Lykketoft commented on the cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region – the challenges and opportunities. The two also answered questions from the guests, which added interesting thoughts to the very lively and interesting debate.
The main conclusion was that there were still many issues, problems and opportunities for BDF to address in the years to come. The Baltic Sea Region is still very young and the cooperation needs further expansion. However, smaller incidents were only a reminder of the main fact that basic political stability had been achieved, which was the most important political outcome of cooperation in the region – it was also the precondition for closer economic, social and cultural integration.
The Lithuanian Ambassador Vytautas Pinkus and the Polish Ambassador Rafał Wiśniewski, who generously sponsored beer and snacks from the region, actively took part in the discussions.
During the celebration, guests could enjoy the small photo exhibition “Claiming Space” by four young artists from the Baltic Sea Region. The pictures illustrated how people construct their own space.
We thank all our guests, friends and supporters for the “hyggelig” (cozy) celebration of 15 prosperous years of BDF and we are looking forward to the upcoming years of excitement and fruitful cooperation within the Baltic Sea Region.
See more impressions on FlickR.