The general purpose of the conference is to investigate the encounters between the societies living in the Nordic, Baltic and the Black Sea regions since the Middle Ages. The complexity of these bonds is discovered when discussing political, diplomatic and military as well as trade, social or cultural relations. Such aspects represent the theme of the papers presented during the conference, but also in the Romanian Magazine for Baltic and Nordic Studies, a biannual multidisciplinary journal published also by ARSBN.
In the opening of the conference, Mr. Silviu Miloiu, director of ARSBN and chairman of the conference, invited representatives of the Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish and Lithuanian embassies as well as representatives of the Estonian, Latvian and Icelandic Consulates to take the floor. They all used this opportunity to make a summary of the diplomatic relations established between the states that they represent and Romania.
In the speech delivered on this occasion, H.E. Øystein Hovdkinn, Ambassador of Norway, pointed out some key facts of the Norwegian- Romanian diplomatic relations. H.E. also made a summary of the present relations between the two countries, concluding that there is a large potential for cooperation between Norway and Romania and that the embassy is willing to have an active role in exploiting and developing such cooperation opportunities.
The conference reunited participants from Romania, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Great Britain, USA, etc who presented their papers during the panels organized throughout the two days long conference.
The event was preceded by the opening ceremony of the exhibition of historical and diplomatic documents entitled Twenty years from the re-establishment of the diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Romania, that took place at the Exhibition Hall of the “Royal Court National” Museal Complex Targoviste.