On March 10, the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy jointly hosted the Nordic Ambassadors to Canada: Hanne Fugl Eskjaer Ambassador of Denmark, Roy Eriksson Ambassador of Finland, Hlynur Guðjónsson Ambassador of Iceland, and Jon Elvedal Fredriksen Ambassador of Norway. The Ambassadors briefly introduced themselves and presented a topic that was front and center for each country, as well as answering questions by students. Not surprisingly, the discussion focused on the war in Ukraine.
Denmark: Hanne Fugl Eskjaer
The Danish Ambassador Hanne Fugl Eskjær spoke about the important values that Canada and Denmark shared with respect to the Arctic, the future of green energy, and developing health sciences. Ambassador Eskjær emphasized the importance of centering rule of law in our commitments in the Arctic, especially in light of Russia’s actions in Ukraine and their position as chair of the Arctic Council until 2023. Further, she spoke about Canada and Denmark’s shared interest in investment in clean energy and specifically spoke about green investments in Alberta to transition oil-sector workers into new jobs in renewable energies. Finally, Ambassador Eskjær closed with a few words on improving the healthcare sector, especially through digital health, whose weaknesses have become apparent over the course of the pandemic.
Finland: Roy Eriksson
On the 75th anniversary year of Canadian-Finnish diplomatic relations, Ambassador Roy Eriksson spoke to students broadly about the implications of Russian aggression for Finland. The Ambassador mentioned the changing opinion in Finland regarding NATO; once, it was viewed as a provocation of Russian ire towards Finland, but following the invasion, the Finnish public is more than fifty percent in favour of joining which is a new high. The parliament will debate a bill on joining NATO this spring. Ambassador Eriksson also spoke about how Finland is combatting Russian disinformation in Finland by translating Finnish news into Russian so that Western news sources can be accessed by the Russian diaspora in Finland. Finland has set a carbon-neutral goal for 2035 and further emphasized the need to distance Finland’s reliance on Russian energy.
Iceland: Hlynur Guðjónsson
Hlynur Guðjónsson, Ambassador of Iceland to Canada since August 2021, discussed the importance of gender equality in Icelandic society as well as their engagements to further improve gender equality in the arctic region. Iceland has a unique experience in achieving gender equality as it was legislated through the 1975 Icelandic women’s strike, a strike consisting of Icelandic women refusing to clean, cook and look after their children. The strike opened the eyes of Icelandic men resulting in the acknowledgment of the major role of Icelandic women as well as their contributions to society and the economy.
Norway: Jon Elvedal Fredriksen
Norwegian Ambassador Jon Elvedal Fredriksen primarily spoke about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Norway’s experience with Russia on the UN Security Council as Norway is now a non-permanent member of the Council. These two issues are particularly close to Ambassador Fredriksen as he has previously been Norway’s Ambassador to Ukraine and Consul General of Norway in Murmansk, Russia. Firstly, he touched on Norway’s recent role as head of the UN Security Council this past January. He talked about how coming up with a coordinated UN solution towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be challenging because Russia and China continue to be permanent members—Russia particularly will veto any security council proposal against Russian aggression. Ambassador Fredriksen also spoke about the importance of gender equality within the Nordic countries and the importance of Europe pivoting towards alternative energy sources—particularly green energy. Finally, Ambassador Fredriksen answered a question regarding Norway’s challenges with Norway sharing a NATO border with Russia. He expressed his optimism towards maintaining peace within the Arctic. Norway continues to have a long-standing partnership with Russia, allowing Norway to have a light military presence along the Russian-Norwegian border.
Sweden: Urban Ahlin
Ambassador Ahlin took a different approach towards his allotted time, mainly speaking about his personal experiences within Russia and how the West failed to sell capitalism as a better alternative in the 1990s. Ambassador Ahlin talked about how “Shock Therapy” — instant reversion towards neoliberalism in the 1990s- was a failure for many post-Soviet countries—oligarchs and corruption prospered while life got worse for ordinary citizens. Good politicians in post-Soviet countries could not do anything but revert to corruption, resulting in a cynical attitude towards the West. Ambassador Ahlin concluded his engaging talk by saying that when Putin fails, it is the West’s responsibility to sell a better picture of the Western model in order to better integrate Russia.
The Ambassadors engaged in discussions with students in regards to certain topics and responded to further questions. The Nordic Ambassadors delighted the Munk School and the University of Toronto with their presence and left a memorable experience for the students who attended the event.
By Sara Green, Gregor Hrelja, Erin Porter (European Affairs Program)