Photo credit: Latvian Foreign Ministry, “Ārlietu ministrs piedalās BVJP ārlietu ministru sanāksmē Oslo,” CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Council of the Baltic Sea States
Abbreviation
CBSS
Summary
The Council of Baltic Sea States is an intergovernmental regional forum with the objective to lay out political priorities, develop plans of action, initiate projects, and provide a forum for discussion on regional matters of common interest. The CBSS engages in a number of areas of common interest, including the creation and maintenance of a safe and secure region. The CBSS largely focuses on issues of human trafficking and criminal exploitation by promoting comprehensive plans of action and coordination between relevant authorities to protect children and other vulnerable groups. The CBSS also exchanges information between member states about the general challenges of border services in the region and security controls at sea ports and marinas, counterterrorism measures, and existing standards of security controls.
Members
Members of the CBSS include Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
Observers
Belarus, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Romania, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States.
Website
Entry drafted by PILAC Research Assistant Claire DiMario, with research support from PILAC RA Svitlana Starosvit. Entry last updated: February 2015.