FORUM BALTICUM

Being a coastal town in the Stockholm region, Norrtälje has the benefits of being geographically very close to the Baltic countries and northwestern Russia. This favourable location for interaction with its eastern neighbours caused a decision to establish the municipal company, Forum Balticum, with focus on trade and interaction between Sweden and the Baltic Sea neighbours. 
Trade and interaction were the founding thoughts of Forum Balticum. These can be realised in many ways; for example by establishing Swedish companies in the Baltic countries and Russia and vice versa, or through carrying out EU-and nationally funded cross-border projects together with sister organisations and municipalities in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia. 
One of the main tasks of Forum Balticum is to offer corporate service. Companies can get in contact with companies in other countries, receive information on how to enter a new market, receive information on how to proceed in juridical issues etc. 
In recent years Forum Balticum's activities have increasingly been focused on carrying out collaboration projects together with organisations in the Baltic Sea Region. However, many projects demand that there are partners from many different countries involved. Forum Balticum has a broad personal contact network of organisations within many different industries and countries that come of use -particularly when seeking collaboration partners for engagement in various projects. 
Knowing each other is a prerequisite for good collaboration. Getting to know each other is on the other hand a long-term process. Nevertheless, when engaging in Baltic Sea collaboration Forum Balticum strives for continuously involving new partners in its collaboration projects and add these to the "old" and continuous relations. By adhering to this philosophy the Baltic Sea region and its inhabitants can create a better and more collaborative environment for the future EUenlargement towards the new democracies. 
At present Forum Balticum is running two EU-funded projects in the Baltic Sea region. BABS -

Business Around the Baltic Sea, a project aimed at connecting the SME-support institutions that exist in the Baltic Sea countries, in order to benefit cross-border trade. Another project, also with bearing on SMEs and collaboration between the Baltic Sea countries is DECNET -Distance Education Collaboration Network in the Baltic Sea Region. This project has as objective to make distance education and training for people in the Baltic Sea Region feasible by connecting the networks that already exist in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. This will benefit the SMEs and thus the Baltic Sea Region as a whole.

BALTIC PARTNERSHIP

The EU-enlargement in the Baltic Sea Region brings many consequences for all of Europe, including regional representatives in Brussels. For some years now we have worked together in the network known as "The Informal Baltic Group". By now all the regions around the Baltic represented in Brussels are participating in this work, including Kaliningrad Region. 
In the Aalborg EU-office, the enlargement has created interesting and unexpected changes. Due to our co-operation with Kaliningrad Region on the ECAT-centre, the city of Aalborg at an early stage decided to widen this co-operation. Hence it was decided that the representative of Kaliningrad in Brussels should have office facilities together with Aalborg. This opportunity has proven

 quite exciting for both parties, although it has obviously not been without problems due to Russia's being the third country. We could not have persevered without the forthcoming attitude of WulfMathies' cabinet. 
By now we have seen good potential and numerous perspectives for the future. Last spring the Slovenian Goverment requested to place with us a Slovenian trainee for one month. This visit proved very fruitful and it gave the opportunity to NeSa, our trainee, to make relevant contacts in Brussels and prepare for a possible Slovenian representatation in Brussels. It further gave to us a first hand impression of and insight in very many activities undertaken by the applicant countries to succeed in the accession negotiations. 
On February 1 this year a new Baltic partner -South Finland Alliance (incl. Aalborg's Finnish twin town Riihimäki) also moved in to Rue de Treves in Brussels. As Finland is a fresh EU member with a lot of interests and expertise in the Baltic region, we have now created a truly Baltic environment -not quite as broad as "the Baltic Sea House" in Brussels, but still a very focused environment. This has been substantiated the fact that several of our trainees from the Aalborg University have concentrated in their work on the accession negotiations, and East -West co-operation in general. Aalborg is twinned with Riga and Vilnius. This determines our natural focus on the Baltic and evokes perspectives for future commercial co-operation in many areas. We are all set for enlargement!