Dr Damian Szacawa Marii Curie Skłodowska University, Lublin Department of International Relations The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) – its impact on the security in the BSR after the Cold War

The Council of the Baltic Sea States – basic informations

Founders of the CBSS Hans-Dietrich GenscherUffe Ellemann-Jensen MFA, GermanyMFA, Denmark

Participants of the Copenhagen Meeting, 5-6 March URL: [access: ]. First row from left: Paavo Väyrynen, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, Lennart Meri. Second row from left Stefan Pelny, Andrey Kozyrev, Thorvald Stoltenberg, Algirdas Saudargas, Krzysztof Sku- biszewski, Margaretha af Ugglas, Janis Jurkans.

Members of the CBSS Denmark Finland Iceland (from 1996) Lithuania Poland Sweden Estonia Germany Latvia Norway Russian Federation European Commission

External cooperation Obserwer States: Belarus France Italy The Netherlands Romania Slovakia Spain Ukraine United Kingdom US Strategic Partners: B7 BCCA Baltic Sea Forum BSSSC BAC HELCOM NGO Forum ScanBalt BASTUN BDF BSPC BUP CPMR IOM OECD UBC

Legal basis and areas of cooperation Copenhagen Declaration CBSS Terms of Reference 1992 Secondary Documents CBSS Terms of Reference 2009

Intergovernmental cooperation in the BSR

Expert Group on Sustainable Development - Baltic – 2009 – Baltic 21, from 2009 – EG-SD Baltic 21 Lighthouse Projects

EG-SD: Key strategic areas of cooperation and goals AREAS Climate Change Sustainable urban and rural development Sustainable consumption and production Innovation and education for sustainable development GOAL Become a low carbon and climate adapted region Create a region of sustainable cities and towns in symbiosis with vibrant rural areas Becoming a forerunner region in Sustainable Lifestyles and Green Economies Become a leading region on education for sustainable development and eco- innovations.

The impact of the CBSS on security in the BSR

„Hard security” issues The CBSS was not created to deal with the security issues „Too small and too large” Small capabilities in the area of traditional military security Informal mediation between Russia and Baltic Republic Informal bilateral high-level meetings („No-tie meetings”)

Institutional framework

„Soft security” issues Existential level of international security: Learning place Spill-over effect New quality in regional security policy Desecuritisation - a process by which a political community downgrades or ceases to treat something as an existential threat to a valued referent object, and reduces or stops calling for urgent and exceptional measures to deal with the threat (Buzan, Wæver, 2003) Postmodern and post-souvereign BSR building Non-military issues Interdependence and economic cooperation Adress problems more easily than larger IGOs Facilitating contacts between „democracies” and „emerging democracies” Strenghtening of regional identity Overcoming old dividing and confrontation lines