Andris Teikmanis and State Secretary of Swedish Prime Minister's Office discuss EU future Strategy for Baltic Sea Region [27 May 2009]

On 27 May, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Teikmanis, met with the State Secretary for the European Union at the Office of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden, Maria Asenius, in order to discuss the issues related to the development of the upcoming EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (Strategy) and the preparations for Sweden's EU Presidency.

During the meeting, the Foreign Ministry Secretary of State assessed in positive terms the contribution by Sweden to the elaboration of the Strategy and the exchange of opinions among the interested parties, as well as expressed hope that the Strategy and its Action Plan will be approved during the Swedish EU Presidency starting 1 July.

Mr Teikmanis and Ms Asenius had an in-depth discussion regarding the vision by Latvia and Sweden on the administration, implementation, funding and a regular update of the Strategy Action Plan. The energy and competitiveness aspects of the Strategy in their turn were debated when the State Secretary to the Swedish Prime Minister's Office met with the Minister for Economy, Artis Kampars.

As part of her visit, State Secretary Asenius took part in a debate on the Strategy, organised by the Foreign Ministry with the Latvian political scientists and representatives of stakeholders in order to provide an insight into the vision of Latvia's NGO sector regarding the measures of the Strategy.

The agreement regarding the development of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region was reached at the European Council of December 2007. The goal of the document is to co-ordinate the efforts by the region's EU Member States, the Baltic regional Organisations, financial institutions, NGOs and stakeholders towards the promotion of a balanced development in the Baltic Sea macroregion. The draft Strategy and its Action Plan prepared by the European Commission are scheduled to be published in June this year.

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