Special lecture by Dr Flora KUPARINEN entitled "Security in the Wider Baltic Region"

On Tuesday 2 April 2019, Dr Flora KUPARINEN, Minister Councellor, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Finland to Poland, gave a special lecture at the College of Europe in Natolin entitled "Security in the Wider Baltic Region".

In this preparatory lecture, Dr KUPARINEN mapped the three Baltic states and the ‘Wider Baltic region’ (including also Poland and Finland – part of the so-called ‘Nordic-Baltic 8’ regional cooperation format) in the geopolitical context of the past era and modern times.

She outlined the region’s historical and contemporary significance as a critical security juncture; elaborated on the critical significance of the Kaliningrad enclave as an essential element of the Russian military strategy in the Baltic Region, explained its role in Russia’s overall anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) strategy; explored and explained regional security perceptions and securitization trends from within, as well as analyzed the impact of external factors on both the shaping of perceptions and the contemporary security and defence efforts – all against the backdrop of traditional and emerging (non-traditional) security challenges in the wider international realm.

A particular focus of this high-level talk was laid on the Finnish and Nordic perspectives on the regional and national security perceptions, including the discussion of regional defence collaboration projects such as NORDEFCO.

The lecture was part of a preparatory lecture series for the Manuel Marín Promotion students participating in the second semester study trip to the Baltic countries. In April 2019, Natolin students embarked upon one out of five tailor-made study trips. To learn more about the different destinations and topics of the study trips, click here.