- Reset +

President Ilves opens Baltic Sea Strategy conference

09.03.2010

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves opened the Baltic Sea Strategy conference today at Tallinn University, by saying that the Baltic Sea Strategy will bring Europe closer to us.

“So far, this has been the only initiative of the European Union, which has been launched by the European Parliament; therefore, the representatives are elected directly by people,” emphasised President Ilves, one of the founders of the Baltic Sea Strategy. “This is not one of the anonymous, so-called Brussels initiatives.”

According to the Head of State, the Baltic Sea Strategy should be treated as European Union domestic policy. “All the possible outcomes and benefits of the strategy are in our very own hands – in the hands of the people who live on the shores of the Baltic Sea.”

According to President Ilves, one of the major goals of the Baltic Sea Strategy is linked to the quality of water in the Baltic Sea: “The quality of life of our nations and possibilities for continued habitation in this area rely directly upon the ecological environment of the Baltic Sea.”

“The strategy will allow for the development of solutions in relation to a number of problems: the quality of sea water, which is deteriorating as a result of human activity; eutrophication; and the threat of catastrophe, due to the almost ten-fold increase in the number of traversing oil tankers,” listed the Head of State.


Office of the President
Public Relations Department
Phone +372 631 6229