Baltic Sea State officials to deliberate on future of region and CBSS reform [03 Jun 2008]

On 4 June, the working session of the 7^th Baltic Sea States Summit will be held, the agenda of which will include issues of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) reform, the future of the region, the accomplishments of the Latvian presidency, and a debate on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. At the close of the session, the CBSS reform declaration will be adopted and the session's conclusions will be accepted.

Prior to the session, a photo and video opportunity for the media is scheduled at 10 am, at Melngalvju nams (the House of Blackheads). For security reasons, media representatives are requested to arrive in advance.

The delegations of CBSS member states and of the European Commission will attend the working session. The delegations from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden will be led by their prime ministers. Igor Shuvalov, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, will be the head of the Russian delegation, whereas the German delegation will be led by Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The European Commission's delegation will be headed by Joe Borg, Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs.

Following the working session, at 12.35 pm, at the exhibition hall of Rigas Makslas telpa (the Riga Artspace), a family photo will be taken. At 12.40 pm, a press conference will be held.

The 7^th Baltic Sea States Summit will conclude the Latvian presidency of the CBSS, which will then be taken over by Denmark.

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