Ministerial Sessions
The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) usually holds Ministerial Sessions once per year. They are attended by the Foreign Ministers of the CBSS Member States and a High-Level Representative of the European Union.
The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) usually holds Ministerial Sessions once per year. These are attended by the Foreign Ministers of the CBSS Member States — Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden — and a High-Level Representative of the European Union.
At the Ministerial Sessions, the ministers decide on the main strategic orientations of the CBSS. These decisions are traditionally reflected in a Ministerial Declaration adopted at the sessions, providing overall guidance for the work of the CBSS and its bodies such as expert groups.
Council sessions at Foreign Minister level were paused after the meeting in Kaliningrad, Russia, in 2013, in response to developments related to Russia’s actions in Ukraine in 2014.
Following the suspension and subsequent withdrawal of Russia from the CBSS in 2022, official annual meetings resumed that same year with a Ministerial Session in Kristiansand, Norway. However, since 2017, the Foreign Ministers had continued to meet outside the formal framework of the Council to maintain a degree of political dialogue and practical cooperation.