Open Europe Expert Congress: Member of Estonian parliament Oudekki Loone calls for "no panic"

American political journalist Stephan Ebert called the Baltics a "troublesome area", which was caused by the issues the countries had with the Soviet Union and NATO membership. Despite of that, and despite of complicated political relations, trade with Russia has been very intense, which is a positive indicator, he added. Stephan highlighted the fact, that there is no need to be too concerned about the Russian troops being close to its borders as historically the only point when the troops were pulled away was in 1941, right before the Nazi invasion. He also pointed that the map of Hitler's "Greater Germany" looks very similar to the map of NATO today in Europe, which explains why Russia could be concerned by the situation around its borders. Escalations might be taking place, Ebert says, as "it seems that Ukrainian president Zevensky has a "get out of jail free" card from the West, allowing him to provoke Russia to fire across the border and get out with impunity, similarly to what happened in Georgia with president Saakashvili".

International relations expert Rishabh Sethi focused on the potential of cooperation between European and Asian countries in the emerging multipolar world and the strong partnerships that are being created between China, India, South Korea and EU countries. He highlighted the importance of investment, and visa-free travel for academic exchange and tourism development. India, is his opinion could offer collaborations in digital technologies and production.

Lithuanian publicist Kristoferis Voishka pointed out that the Baltic states are not independent in terms of their foreign policy, that largely depends on the EU and the USA making them "a buffer zone against Russia". Yet, he said, the geographical location of the Baltics could allow them to have constructive economic relation with both Europe and Asia, thus creating a mutually beneficial exchange.

Head of Latvian Future Research Institute Normunnd Grostins added: "for centuries our geographical location was used for logistics and trade between East and West, and now due to political problems, Finland, that has a less favorable geographical situation is benefiting from trade with Russia and China".

Member of Estonian parliament Oudekki Loone called for "no panic", as, in her opinion, it's quite clear that it is not in the Russian interests to cause any military conflict. "Keep calm and carry on", she said, "let's try to limit as little as possible the contacts between ordinary people, let them reestablish the economic and cultural ties, that have always been there in the region, let people's democracy take its course. I'm sure that in some years our ordinary people will improve the situation, and we will see the reality where diplomatic agreements between states are again possible."

Experts concluded that the current political tensions go against the strategic interests of the Baltic states and do not allow them to overcome the consequences of the pandemic in a fast and effective way through cooperation with the Eastern neighbors, including Russia.

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