Press Release: CBSS kickstarting regional cooperation

In a year that has marked the 100th anniversary of a number of our Member States, including Latvia, the Latvian Presidency can be proud to wrap up its chairmanship in the CBSS with the Jūrmala Declaration and a Roadmap.

30 years since the political changes brought about in 1989, cooperation has moved at a dynamic pace. The blossoming of interaction between organisations and Member States has multiplied in the region. At the end of this year, we will mark 10 years of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, and 20 years since the Northern Dimension was founded. The synergy among the Four Councils of the North is growing, and the connection to the Russian North-West Strategy is to be built.

It is now time for the Member States to take regional cooperation by the hand and into the future. We are going to do this by being flexible, creating value, working together and building on our unique strengths. Project activities have earned CBSS a reputation on a European, and even on a global level.

On the 3rd of June our Foreign Ministers and High-Level Representatives will meet in the beautiful coastal town of Jurmala, Latvia.

Here they will launch new funding for the CBSS Project Support Facility (PSF). This financing instrument aides the region by granting money to projects, NGOs, young people and active citizens for a prosperous region.

The Jurmala Declaration adopted by the Ministers at the High-Level meeting endorses theRoadmap and sets out the path for a much-needed reset of our organisation, which will be completed by the Danish Presidency of the CBSS by mid 2020.

The synergy that this reform will enact will benefit all of the Members and the whole region by ensuring a more coordinated and strategic cooperation area. This will be important as we find together innovative, cost-effective and necessary solutions to climate change, sustainable economies, labour market growth as well as safety and security.

Time: 11:30
Location: Hotel Lielupe, Jurmala, Latvia
Follow the high-level meeting on Twitter: @CBSSsecretariat

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