The 18th Ministerial Session of the Council of the Baltic Sea States took place on 6th June 2013 in Pionersky, Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation. Hosted by the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, the meeting included foreign ministers of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, as well as High Representatives from Iceland, Poland and the European Union.
Among the issues discussed at the 18th Session, were those of the importance of coherence and good synergies among various cooperation forms and platforms in the Baltic Sea Region. The process to ensure synergies is put forward as a highlight of the Baltic Sea regional cooperation. As the Ministerial Session reconfirmed, the particular value of the Council of the Baltic Sea States platform of cooperation is considered to be its flexibility and adaptability to the demands of the changing world, at most enabled due to a particular five long-term priorities and project orientation. In order to facilitate this orientation, two new tools have been recently established, namely the Pilot Financial Initiative and the CBSS Project Support Facility. The ministers also thanked the Russian Presidency of the CBSS (2012-2013) for a successful chairing of the Council, and welcomed the incoming Finnish Presidency of the CBSS (2013-2014).
The meeting concluded with adoption of a Ministerial Declaration which can be viewed here.
Please also follow this link to read the text of a speech delivered during the Session by Mr Carl Bildt, Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.