News

Lithuania’s year-long Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) culminates with the Baltic Sea States Summit of Heads of Government on 1-2 June in Vilnius. Delegations from 12 members of the organization - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the European Commission  - will attend the Summit. Representatives from the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference are also invited to attend the Summit as guests of honour. Delegations are headed by the Prime Ministers of member states or by their authorized representatives.

On the first day of the Summit, heads of the delegations will gather at the historical Chodkevičiai Palace in Vilnius Old Town. During the informal dinner, the participants will discuss joint efforts of the countries to overcome economic difficulties.

On 2 June, Heads of Government of the Baltic Sea States will gather at the National Gallery of Art. The agenda includes discussions on following topics: the promotion of the competitiveness of the Baltic Sea region, sustainable economic growth and cooperation in the field of energy.

The participants of the Summit will also discuss ways to enhance the efficiency of the frameworks and tools of regional cooperation: the CBSS, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region and the Northern Dimension. It is expected that the vision of the Baltic Sea region - a joint declaration outlining guidelines for further development of the region – will be adopted.

The CBSS meeting will be attended by President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Prime Minister of Estonia Andrus Ansip, Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Iceland Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Prime Minister of Latvia Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius, Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg, Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark Lene Espersen, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktor Zubkov, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Maud Olofsson,  Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski and Chair of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference Christina Gestrin.

On the same day, the Prime Ministers are holding a meeting with President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė and taking part in a joint session of the Baltic Development Forum Summit “EU Strategy and Northern Dimension: Developing a Business Agenda for the Region” at the Exhibition and Convention Centre LITEXPO.

Lithuania assumed its year-long Presidency of the CBSS last July. The Presidency focused on the promotion of cross-border cooperation and strengthening relations with other regional organizations, ensuring a clean environment and safe living conditions in the Baltic Sea region.

Lithuania’s Presidency of the CBSS completed the creation of the legal basis for organization’s reform, set up an Expert Group on Maritime Policy, which is currently headed by Lithuania, and laid a foundation for new projects in the Kaliningrad and Pskov regions of the Russian Federation.

Lithuania’s Presidency of the CBSS held the NGO Forum of the Baltic Sea Region and the Baltic Sea Labour Network Conference, initiated the Youth Forum B-Young in Vilnius.

Norway takes over the Presidency of the CBSS from Lithuania on 1 July.