Ministers of Foreign Affairs and other high-level representatives from the Baltic Sea region will meet in Kristiansand, Norway on 24-25 May 2022 during the 19th Ministerial Session of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) – its first ministerial session in nine years.
Organised by Norway, which currently holds the presidency of the CBSS, the meeting will be attended by the CBSS member states: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden, and the European Union. Russia, which was suspended from the CBSS earlier in March and informed on 17 May 2022 about its withdrawal from the Council, will not attend.
“They [the Council] will need to think how to maintain and strengthen the common values and principles that have governed us for 30 years: human rights, freedoms, democracy, international law. (…) How to make our region safer and secure, more sustainable, prosperous and innovative; how to build a stronger sense of regional identity,” said Grzegorz Poznański, Director General of the CBSS Secretariat.
A press conference with Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt, will be held at 11:00 on Wednesday, 25 May 2022, after the CBSS ministerial meeting.
More information regarding this event can be found on the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.
About the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)
The CBSS was established in 1992 following an initiative of Denmark and Germany. The presidency rotates between the member states on an annual basis. Although Norway and Iceland do not border on the Baltic Sea, they have been members from the start together with the other Nordic and Baltic countries, and Germany, Poland and Russia. The EU is also represented through the European External Action Service (EEAS). As of March 2022, Russia has been suspended from participating in Council activities. For more information about the CBSS and the Norwegian Presidency see cbss.org.
Source: CBSS/The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
