Future Orientation of the CBSS: Ilves and Landsbergis to Prepare Report
Ilves and Landsbergis will prepare a report on the future of the Council of the Baltic Sea States.
Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former President of Estonia (photo: courtesy of Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Gabrielius Landsbergis, former Foreign Minister of Lithuania (photo: © Ragaiselis – CC BY-SA 4.0)
Today 13 January 2025, Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Gabrielius Landsbergis were appointed as the high-level rapporteurs of the Council of the Baltic Sea States following their nomination by the Council’s Estonian Presidency. They will also draw up a report on the future of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS).
“I am glad that former President [of Estonia] Ilves and former Foreign Minister [of Lithuania] Landsbergis agreed to take on a role of such responsibility. Recent events in the Baltic Sea have demonstrated clearly that cooperation in ensuring the security and prosperity of the region is becoming increasingly important. The principal task of the rapporteurs is to draw up a report on the future guidelines of the CBSS. I would like to wish them both good luck and I am looking forward to reading their vision of the role of the CBSS in meeting these objectives,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.
The report on the future of the CBSS will be launched in May this year, when the Estonian Presidency is hosting the annual meeting of CBSS foreign ministers in Tallinn. A briefing on the report is scheduled to take place in Tallinn on 20 January with both rapporteurs attending.
About the Estonian CBSS Presidency
Estonia has held the CBSS Presidency since 1 July 2024, with a focus on increasing resilience and sustainability in the Baltic Sea region, and including Ukraine in the activities of the CBSS. Poland will take over the presidency of the CBSS on 1 July 2025. At a meeting in Porvoo, Finland, in June 2024, CBSS foreign ministers decided that the best way to develop the organisation and articulate its recommendations for the future is to present this task to a high-level rapporteur. On the initiative of the Estonian Presidency, CBSS member states decided to offer this position to Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonian President from 2006 to 2016) and Gabrielius Landsbergis (Lithuanian Foreign Minister from 2020 to 2024).
More information on the Estonian Presidency of the CBSS is available on the Foreign Ministry’s website.