From: "Anders Hultman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Lasse Karlsson: > >Generally I'd say that if the alanders were certain that it was economically > >safe, I think a majority would opt for independence. As it stands there is > >about 10-20% support for independence now. This number will rise till the > >next elections in four years. > > And the rest wants to stay with Finland I suppose? Or is there a > group that wants to join Sweden as well?
There are a few, maybe 2-3%. However, this also reflects the present day political situation. Finland wouldn't willingly let Aland go independent. But if a majority of Alanders demands independence, Finland will have to yield. If Aland wanted to join Sweden it's more complicated. Sweden wouldn't like to face the political difficulties of having to deal with Finland over such a controversial issue. This means that she (Sweden) would express some sort of reluctancy at the very thought of the idea. This would probably be sufficient for Aland not even wanting to involve Sweden directly in the first place. However, Sweden is an "interested party" to the League of Nation decision on the status of Aland, and as such she cannot completely turn away, should the Alanders turn to Sweden with reference to the 1921 agreement on the sovereignty over Aland. Personally - and as far as I know I am the only one expressing thoughts along this line - I am in favor of some sort of innovative co-existence between an independent Aland and Sweden. However, any such ideas are extremely hypothetical, as they could only materialize after an Aland independence. This, in turn, may be so far ahead in the future, that I cannot even for sure count on being around to see it, even if I hope so. > A former co-worker of mine, who's Swedish but has family in mainland > Finland, got very upset once when I hinted that the Åland inhabitants > may feel closer to Sweden than to Finland -- basically I said the > same as I did in my previous post here, plus the fact that you can > watch Swedish tv and stuff. Yes. Many Finnish people, or people born by Finnish parents, do often tend to get upset, when Aland becomes the issue. Anyway, I was born and raised on Dagens Nyheter, Aftonbladet, Expressen, Allers, Hemmets Veckotidning, Bildjournalen (Swedish newspapers and magazines) as well as the Swedish Radio and Television. (90 % of the Aland population watches Swedish television.) Lasse
