Ministers of foreign affairs and other high-level representatives of the members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) met on May 25, 2022, in Kristiansand, Norway, for the first CBSS Ministerial Session in nine years. A summary of Norway’s Presidency (July 2021-June 2022) and an assessment of the impact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having on the Baltic...
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Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is a blatant violation of the fundamental principles of international law, which many international institutions in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) refer to. By deciding to suspend the participation of Russia and Belarus in these regional cooperation structures, the BSR states have demonstrated that they exclude cooperation with the aggressor. The...
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Tense relations between OSCE member states have always been a major obstacle to reaching the consensus necessary for foreign ministers to make decisions. The past year has been marked by Sweden’s constant search for a consensus that would allow the proper functioning of the OSCE in a dynamic security environment. Despite these efforts, no progress has been made on resolving...
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In order to strengthen its security, Sweden is increasing its defence capabilities, according to the conception of the security strategy 2021-2025. An intensification of internal activities within the so-called total defence is accompanied by enhanced regional cooperation with the Nordic states within the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO), two trilateral formats and bilateral...
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Gender equality policy has been developed for many years in Sweden and is now one of the cornerstones of the country's international activities. It is visible especially in the course of Sweden’s activities on the forum of international organizations: the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It is also the basis for feminist...
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Chemical munitions and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) on the bottom of the Baltic Sea and related incidents are not a new challenge for states in the Baltic Sea region (BSR). The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and numerous international projects made it possible to initially identify the problem. However, further monitoring of the situation and research are needed to locate all dump...
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During the last six months participants of the various regional cooperation formats have started a discussion on the 2030 vision of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). The year 2021 will be a summary period on cooperation effects already achieved (HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan), an interim period (the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region), as well as a new stage of activity (result...
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On June 17, 2020, Norway was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2021-2022. Of the five priorities presented by Norway, special attention was paid to the need to respect international law and strengthen the structures of multilateral cooperation. These ambitious goals are accompanied by numerous global challenges, requiring the...
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