Yearbook 2003
Aland. Å. Experienced a notable nurse strike that lasted all summer. In the settlement in September, the striking union received its requested negotiation and contractual rights as well as a base salary increase, which however was clearly below the original requirement.
The Finnish Government promised during the year that Å. Will retain its neutrality and demilitarization even though the EU in the future creates a military alliance. In September, however, Å. Was forced to protest when Swedish soldiers with weapons on their way to a military exercise in Finland traveled by ferry that added to the Åland port. The Swedish Embassy in Helsinki apologized for the violation of the so-called Åland Convention.
Ahead of the legislative elections in October, there was a new party, the future of Åland, which promoted Åland independence from Finland. The party entered the legislature with two mandates, but the major winner of the election became the Social Democrats of Åland, which doubled from three to six seats. The bourgeois government parties of Åland Center and the Liberals both resigned but remained the largest parties of the legislature with seven mandates each. The winner of the election was held outside the new self-government, the Landscape Board, which was expanded with Frisinnad cooperation and the Unbound collection. Center leader Roger Nordlund continued as a land council, ie. Government.