Our staff

The CBSS Secretariat is led by the Director General and supported by Senior Advisors and a diverse team, all working collaboratively to advance the priorities of the CBSS in the Baltic Sea Region.

The Secretariat is led by the Director General, who is appointed by consensus among the Council Members. The Director General is tasked with ensuring that the Secretariat operates effectively and in alignment with the CBSS’s strategic priorities. This includes overseeing the work of the Secretariat’s various units, each headed by Senior Advisors responsible for specific areas of focus. Alongside these units, the Secretariat comprises a diverse team of professionals, including project staff, who collectively contribute to advancing the CBSS’s mandate and objectives across the Baltic Sea Region.

Director General

Gustav Lindström

Gustav Lindström is the Director General of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), having previously served as its Deputy Director General. Prior to his tenure at the CBSS, he was the Director of the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) based in Paris. Mr Lindström holds a doctorate in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School and a master’s degree in international policy studies from Stanford University.

Deputy Director General

Vacant

Senior Advisors & Heads of Unit

Olivia Lind Haldorsson – Senior Adviser, Head of the Children at Risk Unit

Olivia Lind Haldorsson is a Senior Adviser and Head of the CBSS Children at Risk Unit. Prior to her tenure with the CBSS, she was the co-founding Director of Child Circle, a Brussels-based centre of expertise for child protection, and the Director of Save the Children International’s office in Brussels. She holds a master’s degree in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Kent.

Edi Mujaj – Senior Adviser, Head of the Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings (TF-THB)

Prior to his tenure at the CBSS as the head of the Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings (TF-THB), Edi Mujaj worked as a Development Manager at the Swedish National Coordination Office against Trafficking in Human Beings (THB). His experience in the field of THB includes coordinating and authoring several government-commissioned reports and guidelines on sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, and national referral mechanisms. He holds a degree in Political Science from Stockholm University.

Kazimierz Musiał – Senior Adviser, Regional Identity

Before joining the CBSS as Senior Adviser for Regional Identity in 2023, Mr Kazimierz Musiał, a Polish national, worked as a professor and researcher at the Institute of Scandinavian and Finnish Studies at the University of Gdańsk, Poland. He focused on studying regional cooperation and communities in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area. He holds an MA in Scandinavian Studies from Poznań University, a PhD in Political Science from Humboldt University Berlin, and a habilitation degree in Sociology from Jagiellonian University in Cracow. At the CBSS, he is now responsible for matters related to culture, higher education, and youth.

Vineta Polatside – Senior Adviser, Safe and Secure

Ms Vineta Polatside is the  Senior Adviser for the CBSS’s  Safe and Secure priority area.

Ms Polatside has over 20 years of experience in safety and security, focusing on human trafficking, migration, and soft security issues. She has worked internationally with organisations such as the CBSS, IOM, and the Red Cross. Before her current role at the CBSS, she led the Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings. Earlier, she worked for Latvian government authorities, heading international cooperation and project units, and coordinating European Funds. Ms Polatside studied human rights and trafficking at the University of Minnesota Law School and holds a Master’s in Human Resource Management and a BA in Humanities from the University of Latvia.

Uģis Zanders – Adviser, Sustainable & Prosperous Region

Uģis Zanders, the Advisor for the Priority Area Sustainable and Prosperous Region, focuses, at the CBSS, on sustainable maritime economy, climate change adaptation, and the localisation of the UN Agenda 2030 and its SDGs. His previous experience is closely linked to sustainable development policy. At the Latvian Ministry of Environment and Regional Development, he contributed to the UN’s 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production and developed the national legal framework for green public procurement.

For a comprehensive list of the CBSS Secretariat staff, see our contact pages.