ACTIVITIES OF THE BALTIC SEA REGION’S ORGANIZATIONS WERE DISCUSSED IN VILNIUS
On 4 March, regional directors from foreign ministries of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) member countries met in Vilnius to discuss, among other issues, the interaction of the organizations in the Baltic Sea region and the perspectives of their activities.
At the event, possibilities for the CBSS to take part in the implementation of the European Union’s Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and perspectives of cooperation with Northern Dimension Partnerships were discussed.
On 29-30 October 2009 in Brussels, the European Council adopted the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which addresses important issues of this region. It provides for a more efficient use of EU funds, better coordination of countries’ positions and the maximum usage of the Baltic Sea region’s development potential aiming to create an environmentally sustainable, prosperous, accessible, attractive and safe region.
In 1997, the Government of Finland and the European Commission launched the Northern Dimension, which aims to highlight the EU’s strategic interests in Northern Europe and to strengthen the cooperation among the Baltic Sea region countries and Russia. The Northern Dimension joins together the EU member states, Russia, Norway and Iceland. The Northern Dimension is made up of a wide range of partnerships. In 2010, Lithuania is chairing the Partnership on Transport and Logistics.
The participants of the meeting in Vilnius, which was chaired by Director of Europe Department of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Marius Janukonis, discussed further CBSS reform, initiated by the Swedish Presidency of the organisation and adopted in 2008 by the Riga Declaration.
Besides, the preliminary programme of the Baltic Sea States Summit in Vilnius on 1-2 June was presented. The Summit will conclude Lithuania’s Presidency of the CBSS.
Finnish representatives presented the results of the Baltic Sea Action Summit in Helsinki in 2010 and plans for further steps to promote the Baltic Sea ecology.
The Lithuanian representative stressed Lithuania’s goal to draw the international community’s attention to the problem of sea-dumped chemical weapons. Lithuania does not suggest discussing the recovery and destruction of these weapons but notes that it is important to collect information about the risks and to acquaint other countries and their societies with this problem. In the autumn of 2010, Lithuania will present a resolution on sea-dumped chemical weapons at the United Nations.
On 3 March, a regular meeting of the CBSS Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) was held at Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the meeting, activities of the CBSS expert groups, which are currently headed by Lithuania, were presented. Members of the Committee adopted the CBSS Information strategy and discussed specific projects of cooperation with the Kaliningrad Region (the Russian Federation). At the meeting, preparation for the next meeting of the CBSS Committee of Senior Officials in Pskov was discussed. The EuroFaculty Project in this Russian city will be discussed at the forthcoming meeting.
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