Foreign ministers of Baltic Sea States to meet in Porvoo

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will host the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in Porvoo on 13–14 June.

The Foreign Ministers will discuss topical foreign and security policy issues and regional cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.

“The Baltic Sea is facing increasingly complex threats, so it is important that the region’s democratic countries meet to discuss topical issues,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen.

Finland is currently holding the Presidency of the CBSS. The one-year presidency ends at the end of June.

The cross-cutting themes of Finland’s presidency have been comprehensive security, crisis preparedness and resilience. During its presidency, Finland has strengthened the CBSS’s activities both in terms of the Council’s role as a platform for political debate and in terms of practical cooperation.

During the Presidency, efforts have been made to respond to the effects of serious crises in the region, for example by strengthening cooperation in civil defence and rescue services.

Established in 1992, the CBSS is an intergovernmental forum for cooperation between the states in the Baltic Sea Region. The members of the Council are the Nordic countries, the Baltic states, Germany, Poland and the European Union.

Cooperation with Russia was suspended in spring 2022, and Russia withdrew from the CBSS in May of the same year.