Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania

Political Departments

September 2001

Inside this Issue

8COOPERATION WITH LATVIA AND ESTONIA

8COOPERATION WITH THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

8"5+3"

8THE COUNCIL OF THE BALTIC SEA STATES

J.Tumo-Vaižganto 2

2600 Vilnius

Tel. (370 2) 36 24 47

Tel./Fax (370 2) 62 16 57

Email: is@urm.lt

LITHUANIA’S CO-OPERATION WITH LATVIA, ESTONIA AND THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

During the recent years the Baltic and Nordic countries have developed a cohesive network of co-operation activities in political, military, economic, environmental, cultural and other aspects. Co-operation is intensifying in all public and private levels thereby activating the vast potential for development in the region.

COOPERATION WITH LATVIA AND ESTONIA

The Council of the Baltic States (CBS) was established on May 12, 1990. The CBS included the Heads of the three states and the Heads of Government. The CBS later on was transformed into regular summits of the Presidents of the three states.

In 1990, the first joint session of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was held in Vilnius. In 1991 the Baltic Assembly, comprised of 60 parliamentarians of the Baltic states was founded.

In 1994, the Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM) was established (http://www.bcmvs.net). In this framework the Prime Ministers of the Baltic states meet at least twice a year. Committees of Senior Officials of the BCM co-ordinate the co-operative activities of the three states in the fields of their competence.

The main activities of the BCM and priorities of Lithuania during it’s presidency are as follows:

·       Trade

Ensuring smooth and efficient implementation of the free trade agreement between the Baltic States is among the major tasks of the BCM. Latvia is Lithuania's export partner No1. In the first half of 2001, 15.1% of Lithuanian exports went to Latvia and 2.8% to Estonia.

·       Cooperation in the field of energy

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia parallelly operate their power systems. The creation of a common Baltic electricity market is on the agenda.

·       Implementation of the transport infrastructure projects

Lithuania continues developing infrastructure projects, in particular the Via Baltica and the Rail Baltica - the First Crete Corridor.

·       Cooperation in the field of defence

Lithuania stresses the importance of enhancing defence-related co-operation by developing common projects:

BALTBAT - common Baltic Battalion formed for participation in international peace keeping operations. Recently BALTBAT was upgraded to a full-power infantry battalion.

BALTRON - Baltic Naval Squadron consists of ships, designated by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Works according to annual plans which provide for personnel training and participation in international exercises and in the naval mine counter-measure operations.

BALTNET - Baltic Air Surveillance Network system consists of national air surveillance centres in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and allows the Baltic States to effectively survey and co-ordinate their sovereign air space and to ensure safety of air traffic.

BALTDEFCOL - Baltic Defence College has the task to train staff officers from the Baltic States for future service in the national Ministries of defence, national and international headquarters from the regiment/brigade level upwards, as defence attaches or military academy instructors.

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·       Creation of the common Baltic education area

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have the agreements on the creation of a common secondary and vocational education area; on academic recognition of educational qualifications in the Baltic Educational space; and on the common Baltic higher education area. Implementation of the agreements is on the agenda. The exchange of students among the Baltic States is scheduled for 2002-2003.

·       Cooperation in Home and Justice Affairs

major recent agreements:

The Baltic countries aim to intensify mutual relations in performing the functions of crime prevention and control. The trilateral agreement on consular cooperation among the Baltic States was signed on 5 February 1999 in Vilnius, and is of the utmost importance for facilitating consular assistance to Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian citizens in foreign countries.

The agreement on co-operation in protecting victims and witnesses among the Baltic States was signed on 17 March 2000.

COOPERATION WITH THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

Lithuania has a variety of bilateral ties with all Nordic countries – Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland.

Lithuania’s cooperation with the Nordic countries develops in several ways, e.g. intensive bilateral contacts and consultations, cooperation according to the Nordic-Baltic 8 (NB 8) formula, working relations between the Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM) and the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM), collaboration in the framework of regional and international organisations as well as  co-operation between regions.

Practical cooperation with the Nordic countries involves culture, education, environmental protection, infrastructure, social security, people-to-people contacts, etc.

The Nordic countries are among the major investors in Lithuania: as of 1 April 2001, direct investment of these countries in Lithuania exceeded 1 billion USD (1.1 billion) and accounted for 46.2 % of the total direct investment in Lithuania. Trade turnover between Lithuania and the Nordic countries in the first half of 2001 was 518.17 million USD and made up 9.9 % of the total trade turnover between Lithuania and other countries.

On the political level the Nordic countries remain among the main supporters of Lithuania's accession to EU and NATO.

NORDIC-BALTIC 8 (5+3)

5+3 meetings started in 1992 on the Prime Ministerial level. The Prime Ministers now meet annually to discuss common foreign policy and regional issues. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs have met annually since 1993, the Ministers of Defence since 1994 and the Ministers for Regional Cooperation (Baltic States are represented by Ministers of Foreign Affairs) since 1996. Cooperation according to formula 5+3 has got a new impetus through frequent consultations on the level of Political Directors. Ad hoc meetings with the participation of one guest country are also being held e.g. EU High Commissioner Javier Solana participated in the last meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Middelfart, Denmark (2000.08.29-30). At the given meeting Ministers have come to a consensus that forthcoming meetings are to be called Nordic Baltic 8.

THE COUNCIL OF THE BALTIC SEA STATES

The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), established in 1992, is the regional economic, cultural and human rights cooperation forum, which, aside from the Baltic and Nordic countries also includes Poland, Germany and Russia.

Lithuania was holding the presidency of the CBSS for one year from July 1998 till July 1999. Continuation of the work in the core areas of cooperation such as assistance to democratic institutions and human rights, economic integration and trade, civic security, education and nuclear safety, as well as greater inclusion of the Kaliningrad region of Russia into the activities of the CBSS were the priorities of Lithuanian presidency.

The establishment of the permanent CBSS Secretariat during Lithuania's presidency was one of the most important factors achieving a higher level of efficiency in the work of the CBSS. The document regarding the participation of the third countries in the activities of the CBSS was adopted during the Lithuanian presidency.