POTENTIAL OF THE BALTIC SEA REGION COUNTRIES WAS DISCUSSED AT AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
On 18 September in Kaunas during the 16th annual Baltic Sea States Sub-regional Co-Operation Conference, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deividas Matulionis highlighted a big potential of the Baltic Sea region and a goal to transform it into a modern and leading region of the European Union. State Secretary drew attention of the participants of the conference to the fact that as far as energy and transport are concerned, the Baltic States had remained isolated from the networks of Western and Northern Europe.
‘Building of the missing electricity links would help to increase competitiveness of the Baltic Sea region and to reduce economic differences among the countries in the region,’ stated D.Matulionis.
State Secretary also spoke favourably about the development of transport projects which would connect the Baltic and Black seas. One example of such successful cooperation - the train Viking linking Klaipėda and Ilyichevsk seaports - has to become an effective means of carrying freight between the Nordic and Black Sea countries.
Almost half a thousand officials and experts from the Baltic Sea region countries and the European Commission are taking part in the conference, dedicated to the European Union strategy for the Baltic Sea region, which is currently under preparation and is going to be adopted in 2009.
Social media
