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Baltic Sea Cooperation

The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was founded in 1992 with the participation of the 9 Baltic Sea States, including Iceland and Norway, in response to the geopolitical changes in the Baltic region after the end of the Cold War. 

The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was founded in 1992 with the participation of the 11 Baltic Sea States, including Iceland and Norway, in response to the geopolitical changes in the Baltic region after the end of the Cold War. 

The Council was established at the initiative of Uffe Ellemann-Jensen and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the Danish and German foreign ministers at the time. CBSS became the foundation for cooperation among the Baltic Sea States, which include Denmark’s most important neighbours. CBSS works with intergovernmental dialogue, networking and project-based activities.

In particular during the 1990’s, CBSS played a pivotal role as the first regional cooperation with the participation of the independent Baltic states, the united Germany as well as Russia. In this way, CBSS contributed to reducing the potential for conflict and to furthering democratic conditions in the area. Due to Russia’s unprovoked and illegal military aggression against sovereign and democratic Ukraine, Russia’s participation in the CBSS was suspended on 3 March 2022. On 17 May 2022 Russia withdraw from the organisation.

Over time, other platforms for cooperation in the Baltic Sea region have emerged alongside CBSS. One of these fora is the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). In 2009, the European Council decided to launch an EU strategy for the region as the EU’s first macro-regional strategy. Later on, similar strategies have been developed for some other European macro-regions. These strategies aim to provide better and more cohesive regional coordination of policies and projects. They  use existing legislation, existing financial resources and existing institutions. The EUSBSR aims at strengthening cooperation among the Baltic Sea States with a view to improving environmental protection, economic growth and infrastructure.

Cooperation within the Northern Dimension (ND) is the result of a Finnish initiative within the EU in 1997. In 2007, ND was transformed into a common policy encompassing the EU, Iceland, Norway and Russia as equal partners. However, due to Russia’s unprovoked and illegal military aggression against sovereign and democratic Ukraine in 2022, ND cooperation with Russia has been suspended.

Other important regional organisations in the Baltic Sea Region are the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), which manages the implementation of the Helsinki Convention on the protection of the Baltic Sea.

To a large extent, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Northern Dimension share the same overall objectives. Within these fora an extensive regional cooperation has developed, involving not only governments and authorities, but also  businesses, interest groups and civil society representatives as well as various financial institutions.

Baltic Sea cooperation helps transform the political commitment of the participating countries into a large number of concrete results within such diverse areas as environmental protection and civil security. Examples include improvement of the marine environment and measures against human trafficking.