New structures,changing identities: the concepts of the Baltic Sea region

The accession of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland to the European Union (EU) has led to an increase in initiatives on Baltic Sea issues and a degree of enhanced confidence in moving towards solutions. While EU policies and instruments, and the provision of significant financial resources, have increased, one might still ask whether people across the Baltic Sea region are ready for the changes implied by the new Baltic strategy and comparable initiatives. Marko Lehti and David Smith have “tried to show that national thinking is by no means self–evident and that the Baltic can be comprehended as a trans–national space”. Yet, how this position is articulated in the various societies warrants close investigation. This position is closely related to dominant identities and images within Baltic societies. How will the EU’s innovative strategy and the resulting change of images impact upon the conceptual understandings of the Baltic Sea and region, including perhaps the search for a common identity as a successful and a pilot scheme?