Baltic Dialogue Initiative
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania consider their history under the Soviet Union between World War II and 1991 as a time of occupation. Yet their common history with Russia goes back centuries, and their economic future is inevitably linked with their powerful neighbor to the East. With important Russian-speaking communities in their midst, the Baltic nations are faced with the challenge of keeping their own identity while maintaining positive relations with their neighbors. At the same time, since they are integrated into the European Union, they can play a mediating role between Russia and Europe. Scroll down for reports.
Goal: Overcome historical tensions between Russia and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
Methods: Forums, cultural exchanges, and service-learning programs
- Written by: UPF - Eurasia
Riga, Latvia and Vilnius, Lithuania - Building on cultural exchanges between Russian, Finnish, and Swedish children, UPF-Eurasia introduced its Baltic Dialogue Initiative inviting Ambassadors for Peace to join in addressing sensitive issues between Russia and its neighbors to the west. Read reports from Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn.
- Written by: Vadim Bolshak, Vice-President, UPF-Latvia
Riga, Latvia - The Universal Peace Federation-Latvia, convened the first official conference on “The Baltic Dialogue” on June 28. Among the participants were Ambassadors for Peace of Latvia, school teachers, university professors, and leaders of youth grassroots organizations. Altogether, there were about 30 guests.
- Written by: UPF - Lithuania
Vilnius, Lithuania - A meeting on the UPF Founders’ World Tour 2011 and the Baltic Dialogue initiative of UPF-Eurasia for Ambassadors for Peace was held on June 21 in Vilnius.
- Written by: Dr. Vladimir Petrovsky, UPF-Russia
UPF-Eurasia's Baltic Dialogue Initiative seeks to establish a new channel of dialogue between the populace of the Baltic nations and Russia, on the basis of shared European values, for the purpose of promoting better relations between the Russian-speaking and the native populations of the Baltic states.
- Written by: UPF - Russia
The second International “Light of the Christmas Star” Festival and Competition took place December 11-15 in Finland and Sweden. More than 700 participants came together from many cities and regions of Russia and had a unique opportunity to perform on the best stages of Helsinki and Stockholm.
- Written by: UFP-Eurasia
Moscow, Russia - UPF-Eurasia's Baltic Dialogue project includes plans for sports and cultural programs to build neighborly relations among the youth of northwest Russia and the neighboring nations of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden.
- Written by: UPF - Eurasia
Moscow, Russia - “The Role of Non-governmental and Public Organizations and People of Good Will in the Baltic Dialogue” was the theme of the March 2010 meeting of the Peace Council in the northwest region of Russia. Konstantin Krylov, Deputy Secretary General of UPF-Eurasia, spoke before the audience on “Conflicts and ways to solve them."
- Written by: Tatyana Krasnosumova, UPF - Russia
St. Petersburg, Russia - Russian children traveled to Finland and Sweden as part of an international cultural festival on the theme of the “Light of the Christmas Star” December 11 – 15.
- Written by: UPF - Eurasia