Now the Council can also offer support to Ukraine, an observer state to the CBSS. All the participants in the meeting declare assistance to Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, in Poland and elsewhere in the region, especially in terms of countering the risk of human trafficking and exploitation. They also want to engage in rebuilding Ukraine after the war,” said Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish delegation to the session.

Held in Kristiansand, Norway, as the first on-site meeting of the CBSS in three years, the session was attended by the ministers of foreign affairs of Norway (the host country), Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden, as well as representatives of Poland, Finland, and the EU. Russia was not invited. The talks centred around the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine for the Baltic Sea region and the challenges ahead of the organisation.  The 19th CBSS Ministerial Session saw the adoption of the Declaration in which the participants strongly condemned Russia’s actions targeting Ukraine as being in breach of all international laws and standards, declared support for Kyiv, and reaffirmed the Council’s readiness to adapt to new challenges.

The document reiterated the validity of last year’s Vilnius II Declaration – A Vision for the Baltic Sea Region by 2030, which set the goal of making the region one of the most sustainable, affluent, innovative and competitive areas of the world.

In March 2022, in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the other CBSS members (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden) and the EU decided to suspend the Russian Federation (member state) and Belarus (observer), at the same time declaring their will to keep the organisation operative. On 17 May 2022, Russia announced its withdrawal from the organisation. 

Established in 1992, the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) has played an important role in the institutionalisation of international relations in the region after the Cold War. In 2022, the organisation was to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The three decades of the Council’s activity, the only regional intergovernmental organisation, prove its substantial contribution to the development and integration of the Baltic Sea region.  The Council of the Baltic Sea States, until now a forum for political discussions and a platform for project implementation, is now facing the challenge of defining its role in the new political situation in the Baltic Sea region. 

In July 2022, Germany will take over a year-long presidency of the Council. One of its priorities will be the chemical weapons from the Second World War which are still lying on the Baltic seabed, a vital problem for the Baltic Sea also in Poland’s view. 

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Press Spokesperson