Council of Baltic Sea States to turn 20

The CBSS brings together 11 countries, including Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. Belarus and Ukraine have an observer status. The CBSS addresses a spate of issues related to the environment, economic development, energy and human dimension, including fight against human trafficking. Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Energy Security Foundation in Moscow, says that dealing with the region’s energy and environmental security will be the CBSS’s priority in the near future.

"Customers are interested in reliable energy supplies," Simonov says. "As for energy suppliers, he adds, they want to get clear guarantees from customers and are interested in security of transit routes."

Russia actually remains the only CBSS country which exports hydrocarbons, with other CBSS members being on the list of customers. Many of them boost energy cooperation with Russian companies, while some CBSS countries are yet to do so, Simonov goes on to say.

"Denmark, for example, has never purchased Russian gas," Simonov says. "Thanks to the launch of the Nord Stream project, the Danish company Dong signed its first contract with Russian counterparts."

Oil and gas business is fraught with environmental risks. The main thing is to try to avoid any problems pertaining to the environmental security of the Baltic Sea. In this regard, Russia accumulated unique expertise on interacting with its Baltic immediate neighbors in terms of environmental cooperation, Simonov says.

"What I mean is an agreement on the implementation of the Nord Stream project," Simonov says, praising the sides signing a spate of environmental agreements related to the project.

The unveiling of the Ingermanland National Park in the Gulf of Finland’s Russian water area will become the region’s environmental breakthrough. The unveiling is scheduled for later this year, says environmentalist Sergei Rezvy.

"We have already discovered a wide array of rare species of birds in the area which consists of a group of islands," Rezvy says, adding that rare ringed and gray seals were also spotted there.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, CBSS Director General Jan Lundin touted Russia as “our organization’s leading member.” He praised what he described as a “family feeling” that Lundin said makes CBSS members to do more to develop mutual cooperation.