Is Russia a “good CBSS citizen”?

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-56
Author(s):  
Alexander Sergunin
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Regional Identity ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
Governance System ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
Ukrainian Crisis ◽  
The Baltic

This study examines Russia’s policies towards and within the Councilof the Baltic Sea States in the aftermath of the Ukrainian and other internationalcrises. More specifically, this paper analyses Russia’s interest in andexpectations from the CBSS, as well as Moscow’s institutional behaviour in theCouncil. The CBSS is viewed by Russia as both a centrepiece and cornerstoneof the regional governance system. Moscow also sees the CBSS as an importanttool for overcoming the politico-diplomatic isolation where Russia founditself with the start of the Ukrainian crisis. With the help of the CBSS, it retainsits ability to influence socioeconomic, political, environmental, and humanitariandevelopments in the Baltic Sea region. Russia supported the Council’sthree long-term priority areas: a regional identity, a sustainable and prosperousregion, and a safe and secure region. Russia favoured further the Council’sinstitutionalization and strengthening of its role in the regional governancesystem. Despite the fact that Russia’s relations with other CBSS member-statesremain tense and that Moscow does not always manage to use the Councilto promote its interests in the region, the CBSS is still seen by Russia as animportant platform for regional cooperation.

scholarly journals THE EUROPEAN UNION STRATEGY FOR THE BALTIC SEA REGION - AN EXAMPLE OF BETTER AND MORE EFFECTIVE REGIONAL GOVERNANCE

2017 ◽  
pp. 65-80
Author(s):  
Iwona Śmigerska-Belczak
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Regional Strategies ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Model Region

The international cooperation in the Baltic Sea region, especially between Scandinaviancountries, has a very long tradition that has impacted signicantly on institutionalisationof regional international relations. The current European Union Strategy for the Baltic SeaRegion is the rst macro-regional strategy within the EU, based on the earlier regionalexperience. Its main goal is strengthening cooperation in this region and promotingsustainable development in order to meet common challenges. The Strategy has broughtbetter coordination and effectiveness of the existing cooperation and turned out to bea very efficient and successful tool. Until spring 2014 the Baltic Sea Region was perceivedas a model region for successful transformation, close regional cooperation, trade andinclusive security. However, it is now facing new challenges connected with changingpolitical situation (EU-Russia relations, Brexit, migrations, etc.). The rules and formsof the governance in the Baltic Sea Region have appeared to be e‚ective and suƒcientin successfully addressing economic, social and political challenges. This is the answerto the question if there is any evidence to acknowledge the rules, forms and ways ofcooperation as a model which possibly could be followed elsewhere. As a result, the EUhas introduced three more macro-regional strategies.

scholarly journals Establishing transboundary tourist space in the Baltic Sea region

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (Special Issue 1) ◽  
pp. 149-157
Author(s):  
DENIS CERIĆ ◽  
MAREK WIĘCKOWSKI
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Regional Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Cross Border Cooperation

Background: The Baltic Sea region has been an area of intense political, economic and cultural contacts since the early Middle Ages. However, it severely suffered both during the Second World War and in its aftermath through to 1989. Since the mid-1990s, initiatives, programs and organisations promoting cooperation in this region have been put in place, and, in line with the expansion of the European Union, there have been far more opportunities (both organisational and financial) for cross-border cooperation, including in a transboundary context. Material and methods: The main sources of data for quantitative analysis have been official reports of Interreg Programme projects in the Baltic Sea region, as given effect to in the period between 2007 and 2013. In turn, qualitative analysis has drawn on descriptions of selected projects, mainly in reports and on relevant websites. Results: This article acquaints the reader with issues underpinning cross-border cooperation in the transboundary context of the Baltic Sea region, focusing on key aspects relating to the establishment of transboundary tourist space. Several examples of EU co-financed cross-border cooperation in tourism are also presented in greater detail. Conclusions: The process of establishing transboundary tourist space across the Baltic Sea is seen to depend greatly on co-financing by the European Union. Such EU-backed projects serving the development of cross-border tourism in the transboundary context of the Baltic Sea region can be assigned to four groups entailing: (1) the integration of transport, (2) tourism management, (3) the generation of tourist products, and (4) the development of a regional identity. However, it is typical of these projects for cooperation in the development of tourist attractions and products to be led by entities from the more developed part of the region, which therefore receive more funding than partners’ beneficiaries from the Baltic’s less-developed part. Preliminary analysis thus suggests that EU projects may not necessarily help to even out differences, i.e. reduce disparities, between the “Old” and “New” EU, even if they may be significant in helping to combine potential.

scholarly journals The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and accomplishments

Baltic Region ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-152
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Palmowski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Inherent Feature ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
Development Plans ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
The Baltic

The sea and inland hinterland of Baltic Europe form a unique macro-regional unit. Strong collaboration links, and competition in the Baltic Sea region, are an inherent feature of the region from the beginning of its civilization development. Since 2004, the Baltic Sea has become an internal sea of the European Union. This fact no doubt strengthened the cooperation of the countries in the region. In many spheres, these ties take the form of networking. The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is an important stimulus for further integrations. The objective of the article is to identify changing trends and the structural transformation in the Baltic integration process instigated by the implementation of this strategy. The document contains common goals, which strengthen cooperation and draw on the Baltic Sea potential. Three main pillars are outlined in the Strategy: marine protection, better interconnection of the region and growing prosperity. The essence of cooperation involves joint development plans on various levels: governmental, regional and local with the participation of research institutions, regional cooperation infrastructure, operational programmes, as well as the private sector. Political stabilisation and economic development may transform, in a longer time span, the emerging transnational Baltic Europe into a new economic and cultural European centre. The choice of research methodology applied in the study derives from the nature of collected data, i.e. literature regarding scientific accomplishments in the Baltic cooperation, analysis of working documents and reports drawn up by public institutions, the European Commission, and EU national and regional strategic documents.

Sweden and the Baltic Sea Region

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rikard Bengtsson
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
European Level ◽  
Baltic Region ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Eu

Swedish policy towards the Baltic Sea region in the post-Cold-War period reflects an internationalist approach aimed at institutionalizing regional cooperative mechanisms, along with a generic interest in managing relations with Russia. The Baltic region is of significant strategic interest to Sweden. From a strategic foreign policy perspective, the institutions-based approach to regional cooperation can be viewed as a formula for Sweden to multilateralize relations with Russia while simultaneously reaping economic and security benefits that stem from regional and European-level interdependencies. The roles that follow from this approach—as regional integrator and as normative critic of Russia—are increasingly enacted through European channels, primarily the EU.

scholarly journals The climate in the Baltic Sea region during the last millennium simulated with a regional climate model

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1419-1433 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schimanke ◽  
H. E. M. Meier ◽  
E. Kjellström ◽  
G. Strandberg ◽  
R. Hordoir
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Nutrient Loads ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Variability and long-term climate change in the Baltic Sea region is investigated for the pre-industrial period of the last millennium. For the first time dynamical downscaling covering the complete millennium is conducted with a regional climate model in this area. As a result of changing external forcing conditions, the model simulation shows warm conditions in the first centuries followed by a gradual cooling until ca. 1700 before temperature increases in the last centuries. This long-term evolution, with a Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and a Little Ice Age (LIA), is in broad agreement with proxy-based reconstructions. However, the timing of warm and cold events is not captured at all times. We show that the regional response to the global climate anomalies is to a strong degree modified by the large-scale circulation in the model. In particular, we find that a positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) simulated during MCA contributes to enhancing winter temperatures and precipitation in the region while a negative NAO index in the LIA reduces them. In a second step, the regional ocean model (RCO-SCOBI) is used to investigate the impact of atmospheric changes onto the Baltic Sea for two 100 yr time slices representing the MCA and the LIA. Besides the warming of the Baltic Sea, the water becomes fresher at all levels during the MCA. This is induced by increased runoff and stronger westerly winds. Moreover, the oxygen concentrations in the deep layers are slightly reduced during the MCA. Additional sensitivity studies are conducted to investigate the impact of even higher temperatures and increased nutrient loads. The presented experiments suggest that changing nutrient loads may be more important determining oxygen depletion than changes in temperature or dynamic feedbacks.

scholarly journals Recent developments and challenges of the introduction of dual training for SMEs in countries around the Baltic Sea Region with a special emphasis on Lithuania

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Hogeforster ◽  
Christian Wildt
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Qualified Personnel ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Status ◽  
First Results ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Baltic

The economy of the Baltic Sea Region is characterised by small and medium-sized enterprises. One of the main limitations to growth continues to be the lack of qualified personnel. Dual training as a form of work-based learning can promote the employability of young people in the long term and attract additional workforce. Based on a review of recent literature the status of VET and dual training in the selected countries of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia are described. Complementary the first results of a recent survey of companies, schools and administrations is presented, that confirms that in most BSR countries companies are not engaged in dual education. The evaluation of the literature clearly shows that a lot has been done to encourage work-based learning in the Baltic Sea Region, but the survey indicates, that the legal changes and possibilities have yet not fully arrived at the companies that could provide train-ing spots.

scholarly journals The evolution of US political priorities in the Baltic sea region in the 2010s

Baltic Region ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-25
Author(s):  
P. E. Smirnov
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Baltic Region ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Cold War

The fundamental geopolitical changes in the Baltic Sea region after the end of the Cold War caused the United States to revise its priorities in that part of the world. The process became especially apparent in the second decade of the 21st century when the Ukraine crisis brought to light the consequences of NATO and EU enlargement to the former Warsaw Treaty allies and the Baltic States. This article shows how the US, motivated by the need to ‘contain’ Russia, was developing its overall approaches to ensuring its political leadership in the Baltic region. It demonstrates how Washington is planning to reduce the vulnerability of certain nations of the region to Russia’s military and non-military influence and what steps the US and its NATO allies have taken in this direction. It is argued that, although the Western military buildup in the Baltic Sea region and the US attempts to neutralise Russian ‘hybrid’ instruments are unable to increase substantially the defence capabilities of NATO allies in the Baltic, the security dynamics in the region are likely to turn it into an arena for a struggle between Russia and the West. Russia will benefit from seeing the Baltic region nations not as tools in the Russian-US confrontation, but as partners in regional cooperation aware of their own interests.

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