Germany Presides over the Baltic Sea for a Yearly Term

The German Foreign Ministry has announced that Germany will assume the presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) for the next twelve months. This comes at a critical time, as the region grapples with various challenges and seeks to promote cooperation and cohesion.

One of the key priorities of the German presidency is the promotion of offshore wind energy. Recognizing the Baltic Sea region's immense potential for generating renewable energy, particularly through offshore wind turbines, Germany aims to use the CBSS as a platform to advance this cause.

Another focus area is the intensification of youth encounters. Germany wants to give young people a voice when it comes to finding answers to the region's challenges. This theme will be cross-cutting throughout the work of the CBSS, making it a significant emphasis during Germany's presidency.

The ongoing "European Year of Youth" is also a focus of the German presidency in the context of the CBSS. Germany plans to advocate for strengthening and expanding personal encounters between young people from different countries in the Baltic Sea region.

In addition to these priorities, the German presidency intends to use the CBSS as a platform to create a common understanding of the impacts and challenges associated with munitions remnants at sea. The Baltic Sea is saturated with up to 400,000 tons of conventional explosives and around 40,000 tons of chemical weapons, posing a deadly threat to the environment and marine life.

Under the German presidency, regional cooperation on munitions remnants in the Baltic Sea will be further developed. This cooperation typically involves Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, although the exact list of participating countries has not been specified.

Foreign Minister Baerbock has emphasized the phase-out of fossil fuels as both a climate political necessity and a security political requirement. The members of the CBSS share the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2050 at the latest. As such, Germany aims to agree with the members of the CBSS on the exchange for implementing ambitious offshore wind energy goals and initiate concrete cooperations.

The work program of the German presidency can be found at a specific location, although the text does not provide further details about it. Foreign Minister Baerbock has also invited her foreign minister colleagues to the CBSS meeting in Germany in spring 2023.

It is worth noting that Russia suspended its membership in the CBSS following the condemnation of the Russian war in Ukraine. However, the remaining member states of Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the European Union agreed to continue using the CBSS as a forum for promoting cohesion and cooperation in the region.

A video related to the Baltic Council - German Presidency 2022/23 is available, but the text does not provide further details about it. For more information, interested parties are encouraged to visit the specified location for the work program of the German presidency.