News

On 1 July, Lithuania ends its year-long Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and Norway takes over. The key event of Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States - the 8th Baltic Sea States Summit on 1-2 June 2010 in Vilnius – was among the largest international events in Lithuania recently.

During the event, the Vilnius Declaration “A Vision for the Baltic Sea Region by 2020” was adopted. The document defines ecological, economic and social aspects of regional development and makes a strong political commitment to turn into reality the Vision that is set out in the declaration.

The Baltic Development Forum Summit was held at the same time as the Summit of heads of Government of the Baltic Sea States in Vilnius. The BDF Summit attracted the region’s business elite to Lithuania. During the event, Lithuania’s experience in overcoming the impacts of the economic recession was presented to the participants of the Summit. Coordinated steps in addressing current economic problems and in getting experience from other countries were also discussed.

Lithuania’s Presidency focused on the promotion of innovation, strengthening of cross-border cooperation, providing a clean environment and ensuring safe living conditions in the region. Various events on these topics were held in Lithuania and abroad.

Ways to include a neighboring Russian region of Kaliningrad and Belarus into the solution of the region’s various problems were also sought.

The EuroFaculty projects were successfully implemented in Kaliningrad and Pskov. The aim of these projects is to completely renew the curricula of Economics and Law studies in Russia’s universities. Also special meetings of the Committee of Senior Officials of the CBSS were held in these cities of the Russian Federation.

Aiming to concentrate on the solution of specific problems that are related to ecology, economy and energy and are important for the region, as well as to focus on the preparation and implementation of projects in these areas, the CBSS has completed a legal and organizational restructuring. Lithuania’s Presidency aimed to transform the activities of this organization into more open, less formalized and more efficient ones.

At the same time, Lithuania’s Presidency aimed to ensure that the CBSS would remain an important regional political forum, because the members of the Council are eight EU member states and three non-EU countries. Besides, 10 countries enjoy an official status as observer states in the CBSS.

Lithuania’s Presidency focused on the promotion of innovation in various fields. During the preparation period for the Presidency, the international conference “Baltic Marine Innovation Forum” was held in May 2009 in Klaipėda. Last October, the meeting of the Ministers responsible for spatial planning and development of the Baltic Sea region took place in Vilnius, and the International Conference “Perspectives of Creative Industries in the Baltic Sea region” was organized in February this year.

Besides, the CBSS Expert Group on Maritime Policy was established.  The group is headed by Lithuania. Three meetings of the group and many various events were organized in Klaipėda on the occasion of the European Maritime Day.

Aiming to ensure a clean environment and healthy living conditions in the Baltic Sea region, international conferences were held, dedicated to radiation protection and nuclear safety, control and prevention of trafficking in human beings, support to young people leaving care, as well as the meeting of Directors-General for Civil Protection “Public Safety during Disasters and Major Events”.

The Council of the Baltic Sea States is an overall political forum for regional inter-governmental cooperation, established in Copenhagen in 1992. The Members of the Council are the eleven states of the Baltic Sea region - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden as well as the European Commission. Belarus, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, the U.S.A., the United Kingdom, and Ukraine enjoy an official status as observer states in the CBSS.