Council of Baltic Region Countries to Meet in Russia's Kaliningrad Region

The 9th session of the Council of the Baltic Sea Countries will take place in the town of Svetlogorsk, the Kaliningrad Region. It will be attended by 11 Foreign Ministers from as many countries, representatives from the European Union, observers and politicians and entrepreneurs from throughout the Baltic region. March 5 is the tenth anniversary day of the Council, which was formed at the conference of Foreign Ministers, in Copenhagen, in 1992. Until June 30, Russia is the chair country of the Council, which is the reason for it to convene in a Russian town, Russia defining the priority issues to be discussed.

These issues will include the problems of the Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea following the joining of the EU by Lithuania and Poland. The administration of the Kaliningrad Region has suggested to the Foreign Ministry of Russia a list of measures to be taken to protect the region's interests as goes cooperation between the Council's member countries. This primarily concerns economic cooperation, foreign investments, standardisation, trade in border zones and the transit of passengers and cargoes via Lithuania.

Expectedly, the chairman at the session will be Mikhail Kasyanov, Russia's Prime Minister.