With the opening of this honorary consulate, Estonia would like to further intensify ties between Estonia and Sweden in economic, tourism and cultural areas. This is Estonia’s sixth honorary consulate in Sweden, located near the Norwegian border about 300 km from Stockholm. Karlstad, a famous centre of forestry, paper, cellulose and engineering, is also known for its IT development.

Through the co-operation of Honorary Consul Brännström and the Värmland Chamber of Commerce, a meeting between Minister of Economics and Communications Juhan Parts and the local businessmen and members of the chamber of commerce will take place in Karlstad today. Minister of Economics and Communications Parts will also visit the Ilon Wikland exhibit on display in the Värmland Museum until 20 May and meet with the author herself.

The consular area of Honorary Consul Lars-Åke Brännström is Värmland County, and he himself is located in Karlstad. The honorary consulate is located at Södra Kyrkogatan 11, 652 24 Karlstad, Sweden and the honorary consul can be reached by phone at +46 (0) 70 580 23 37.

Honorary Consul Lars-Åke Brännström was born in 1955 in Gudmundrås and completed his master’s degree at Linköping Institute of Technology. Brännström is well-known and respected on the Swedish industrial landscape as well as in international business life. The honorary consul is the owner of the consultation firm Brannstrom AB and a member of the board of MEWAB Holding AB since 2008.

The honorary consul speaks Swedish, English and German.

“Estonia is known for its innovative society and use of IT. Therefore, Estonia would be a perfect environment for the Agency,” said the Minister of the Interior Marko Pomerants. “Estonia´s candidacy follows the decision of the European Council from 2003 that new Member States should have the priority of hosting agencies.  It is an important political commitment that ensures balance all over the Union,” Pomerants emphasised.

 Estonia is willing to invest around 20 million EUR upon becoming the host for the Agency. This includes office premises in Tallinn and custom-built data centre for future developments in close proximity of the capital . The Government is also prepared to contribute to introducing the European School curricula and form a support team to assist establishment of the Agency.

According to Minister Pomerants, Estonia has always devoted a lot of attention to security. Tallinn already hosts NATO´s Cooperative Cyber Defence COE that manifests Estonia’s competence in the field of IT security and innovation. It would also be more cost-effective to have the headquarters and new data centres in the new Member State.

The Agency should become fully operational in 2012. The host country will be selected by the Council. Besides Estonia, only France has submitted its proposal to host the Agency. 

Estonia’s proposal can be found at: http://www.siseministeerium.ee/itagency/ 

Border controls will be carried out in accordance with the Schengen Borders Code and State Borders Act.

The Ambassador met with Major General Anders Brännström (on the picture 1), Designated Operations Commander of the Battle Group;  Brigadier General Stefan Andersson, Force Commander of the Battle Group; Colonel Mikael Frisell, Chief of Staff  of the Force HQ BG11;  Colonel Mikael Åkerström, Deputy Commander of the Signals Regiment, and discussed about the preparations for the standby period.

Sweden is the framework nation for the Nordic Battlegroup 2011. The Force Headquarters of the Nordic Battlegroup was established in 2009 and is responsible for planning and executing of the battle group activities.

Estonia is represented in the headquarter by Major Andres Noole; in April of this year Estonia will send three more staff officers to Enköping. Altogether Estonian contribution to the Nordic Battlegroup 2011 will be 50 troops.

Sweden is the framework nation of the Battle Group for the second time. The previous one was on standby during the first half of 2008 and at that time Estonia’s contribution was also 50 soldiers as well as one civilian advisor.

A reception organised by the Estonian Ambassador dedicated to the 92^nd anniversary of the Republic of Estonia also took place in Enköping. In his speech, the Ambassador spoke about the history of Estonia’s independence (picture 2).

The World Music Festival will, alongside music, offer its guests dance, theatre, painting, film, poetry, and other types of cultural presentations.

The world music festival is an annual event with the goal of highlighting the distinctive cultural features and diversity of various cities and opening the doors to co-operation between areas of culture in order to show the strength that lies in being distinctive.

Svjata Vatra will perform on 23 October at 20.00 in the Eskilstuna Cultural Centre on the Lokomotivet main stage and on 24 October at 20.00 in the main hall of the Västerås Concert Hall.

Additional information:
http://www.myspace.com/svjatavatra
http://www.varldsmusikfestivalen.se

"Republic of Estonia 90"

will be open at Embassy from 6 to 22 of May.

The exhibition is devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. The photos of the exhibiton come from archives, museums, organisations, collectors and photographers worldwide and tell the story of the Republic of Estonia since its birth in 1918 and cover most of the key historic events that followed. Many of the pictures are being shown for public for the first time.

Venue:
Embassy of Estonia
Tyrgatan 3
Stockholm

Pre-registration for visitors:
Tel. 08-545 122 81
E-mail: Mtrei@estemb.se