Kristiansand, 25 May 2022 (TDI): The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Anniken Huitfeldt welcomed her Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) Ministerial colleagues in Norway.
The Foreign Ministers of the Council of the Baltic Sea States met to discuss further cooperation. This is the first regular session in nine years.
Norwegian FM @AHuitfeldt welcomed her #CBSSministerial colleagues to 🇳🇴. ⁰⁰The first regular session in nine years. #Ukraine, regional cooperation, green and digital transformation on the agenda. @CBSSsecretariat pic.twitter.com/k08PJeWHRe
— Norway MFA (@NorwayMFA) May 25, 2022
Therefore, discussions on the agenda include Ukraine, regional cooperation, as well as green and digital transformation.
The Council of the Baltic Sea States
The CBSS is an intergovernmental political forum for regional cooperation. It consists of 11 Member States and the European Union and upholds a regional perspective on global challenges.
Member States include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. Russia has been suspended from the CBSS. Together with the EU, the CBSS supports a global view on problems in the region.
This includes practically and politically translating the UN SDGs, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, the Palermo Protocol, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, into regional actions on the ground.
Likewise, the Council’s work is guided by three long-term priorities. These are Regional Identity, Sustainable and Prosperous Region, and Safe and Secure Region.
Thereby, it functions as a coordinator of a multitude of regional actors in the areas of these three long-term priorities. In addition, the CBSS is involved actively in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. It co-coordinates Priority Area Secure and works with partners on national, regional, and local levels.
History
The Council was set up in 1992 in order to ease the process of change to a new international landscape. As a result, today the organization is focused on themes like societal security, sustainability, research & innovation, and countering human trafficking.
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and Denmark, Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, respectively, convened the meeting of the region’s Foreign Ministers in Copenhagen.
Furthermore, it was for establishing a regional cooperation platform as a response to the geopolitical changes which happened in the Baltic Sea Region with the end of the Cold War.
Subsequently, the CBSS was established as an all-encompassing regional political forum at the region’s Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting.
