Statement by Ms. Elsbeth Tronstad, State Secretary

Council of the Baltic Sea States 11th Ministerial session

Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad, 6 March 2002

Mr. Chairman,

Mr. Governor

Distinguished delegates,

It is a privilege for me to address this anniversary ministerial session of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. A special thanks to our Russian hosts, and in particular to Foreign Minister Ivanov, for their excellent organization.

Let me also extend a special thanks to the two founding fathers of the CBSS, Uffe Elleman-Jensen and Hans Dietrich Genscher. We appreciate your presence here today.

Since its establishment nearly 10 years ago, the Council of the Baltic Sea States has contributed substantially to preserving and developing stability and good neighbourly relations in our region. The declaration we are going to adopt today illustrates clearly that this has been a decade of concentrated effort. We have developed cooperation in a very wide range of areas, promoted subregional cooperation and improved people-to-people contact. The Council has also contributed to the strong increase in trade and investment in the region. The region has acquired a sense of identity. These are no small achievements, especially given the enormous political, economic and social changes that took place in many of the member countries during this period.

The dynamism of our regional cooperation is also reflected in the fact that there are other active regional cooperation frameworks in Northern Europe besides the Council of Baltic Sea States. Each of them has its own history and agenda. Their emphasis varies, which is natural given the diversity of Northern Europe. Thus there is a place for all of them.

We will soon be celebrating the 10 ^th> anniversary of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council. I am pleased to be able to inform you that Norway plans to invite the prime ministers of the member states to a summit in Kirkenes during the Arctic night next winter.

Norway is chairing the Nordic Council of Ministers this year. During our chairmanship we will give priority to areas of great importance to the development of the Nordic region and its adjacent areas. We will first and foremost emphasize children and young people, food safety and the follow-up to the Nordic 20-year strategy for sustainable development. Ties with the other regional organizations will also be further developed. And Nordic cooperation with the Baltic countries is already making rapid progress.

In this connection, I would like to mention that in 2001, the Nordic Council of Ministers approved a new strategy for activities in the adjacent areas and a new Arctic programme. Norway will actively follow up these decisions.

EU enlargement is transforming cooperation in the Baltic Sea area. Important chapters in the negotiations are to be concluded by the end of this year. An enlargement comprising Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will shift more of the focus of the EU towards the north.

Norway welcomes and strongly supports the enlargement of the EU, since it will in our view enhance stability and welfare in Europe. We have adopted a Plan of Action to strengthen and develop our contacts and cooperation with the candidate countries. As a member of the European Economic Area, Norway welcomes the new possibilities it represents for cooperation with these countries.

Through the able efforts of the German and Russian chairmanships the Council of the Baltic Sea States has achieved a high profile in the implementation of the EU’s Northern Dimension action plan. Norway has taken on the responsibility of acting as lead country in the health and energy sectors.

Norway welcomes the EU Action Plan for the Northern Dimension.

We highly value the contribution made by the European Commission to regional bodies such as the Barents Council, the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the Arctic Council. The challenges we face in the northern regions in areas such as nuclear safety, health, the environment, energy and economic development require a broad international effort. Norway will continue contributing to the Northern Dimension. We will take an active part in the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership Fund, and we have pledged 10 million euro to the nuclear safety activities of the Fund.

I would also like to add that we are very pleased that Russia now has signed the Agreement on the Exchange of Radiation Monitoring Data. This means that all the member states of the CBSS now are signatories to the Agreement.

Europe’s most important energy resources are to be found in the member states of the CBSS. The Council’s Basrec energy cooperation is well established. Energy issues must continue to be high on the Council’s agenda in the years to come, and I am therefore pleased that a CBSS energy ministers meeting will be held in Vilnius this autumn to discuss the energy challenges of the future.

The Working Group on Democratic Institutions, which Norway is currently chairing, convened a seminar in Bergen last month on combating contemporary manifestations of racism and xenophobia. This was the first time racism had been put on the Council’s agenda, and the seminar was a great success, with fruitful conclusions for follow up.

The World Conference against Racism last year in Durban gave us a unique opportunity to mobilize the world community against all forms of racism in all parts of the world. But it is both necessary and appropriate to put this issue on the agenda also of the Council of the Baltic Sea States as well. The declaration we will adopt today emphasizes the importance of adapting to changing circumstances in order to meet the challenges ahead.

I would now like to share with you some of the conclusions from the seminar in Bergen. We agreed that exchange of information and best practices between the CBSS countries is of great importance. Areas of particular interest were the challenges posed by trafficking in human beings, the HIV/AIDS problem and the handling of migration flows and asylum seekers. I would particularly like to underline the important role of the Council’s task forces and the Commissioner for Democratic Development, Ms. Helle Degn, in this matter.

The prime ministers of the member countries of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the European Commission established a Task Force on Communicable Disease Control in Kolding, Denmark, on 12-13 April 2000. The reason for this was the rapid spread of communicable diseases in the eastern part of our region.

I would like to confirm today that the present Norwegian Government also considers this work to be of great importance. At the Baltic-Nordic prime ministers’ meeting in October last year, Prime Minister Bondevik stated that Norway will continue to run the Secretariat and has allocated the same amount as last year for our participation in projects ( NOK 20 million).

The work of the Task Force is well under way. The annual report, which is available as a conference room paper, describes the innovative approach in this collaboration. Around 50 projects have been established so far, but there is room for more. I would like to encourage all those who are participating to examine the scope for increased activity in this collaboration.

I have also noted that Norway has been given the task of being the lead country on health within the frame of the CBSS contribution to the EU Northern Dimension. We are currently examining how we best can combine the work of the Task Force secretariat with the wider mandate, which obviously goes beyond infectious diseases.

Mr. Chairman,

Local government based on democratically elected structures is an fundamental part of our societies. The local authorities can benefit from the exchange of experience and expertise with corresponding authorities in neighbouring states. The Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation and the Union of Baltic Cities have proven to be well functioning networks for dialogue and cooperation. I am pleased to inform you that the town of Lillehammer will host the 10 ^th> annual conference of the BSSSC (B triple S C) in October this year.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say a few words about Norway’s cooperation with Russia, and with Kaliningrad in particular.

A stable and predictable investment climate is a prerequisite for sound business relations and prospering trade. Good, professional law enforcement is essential for establishing a reliable business environment. In this context I would like to mention that Norway is supporting the Eurofaculty Law project at the Kaliningrad State University. The Faculty of Law at the university in the old Hanseatic town of Bergen is the Norwegian partner in the project. We wish the project every possible success. If there is satisfactory progress in the project, I can confirm that Norway intends to continue supporting it in the years to come. I will now close on this positive note, and want to thank you all for your attention.