Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Council presidency during the Zeitenwende

Photo: CBSS Secretariat / Twitter

Other observers include France, Slovakia the United States and others. Due to the current situation, the CBSS has not undertaken its normal summit diplomacy, annual meetings of foreign ministers or alternating meetings of heads of state and government. Instead, it has pursued such meetings at the level of deputy foreign ministers at most.

With Russia’s withdrawal, the CBSS is now facing the fundamental question of quo vadis? The changing situation calls for the German presidency to present a new strategy developed by the Federal Foreign Office in conjunction with the Bundestag.

New life needed

Much of the CBSS’s work is done in project formats that are primarily designed and financed by the respective presidency and supporting funds from the member states or other donors. Accordingly, the German presidency this year has the task of breathing new life into the CBSS in these difficult times, after many years of crisis and in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Of course, this began with Russia’s hybrid warfare against Ukraine in 2014 and only became more aggressive with the beginning of the invasion on February 24th 2022. In response, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared the new reality a Zeitenwende – a turning point. While Scholz mostly had the security situation in mind, the issue is broader and encompasses making Ukraine an actor of peace and European cooperation.

In practical terms, Russia launched the military war against Ukraine in a blatant violation of international law. Ukraine fights to defend itself against the Russian troops. The West responds by providing military support and imposing sanctions against the Russian economy, leaders and population. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is a watershed moment also for the Council of the Baltic Sea States. As aforementioned, a few days after the start of the invasion, ten members decided to suspend Russia’s membership of the council. As a result, Russia announced its withdrawal from the council in May.

The remaining member states of CBSS include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the European Union. They all agreed at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Kristiansand, Norway, on May 25th to continue to use the CBSS as a forum to promote cohesion and cooperation in the region even without Russian membership. The organisation is needed in a wider Europe as a platform for political dialogue. During the meeting in Kristiansand the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Norway and Germany were present. Annalena Baerbock from Germany represented the incoming presidency that started on July 1st. The participants agreed on the importance of the CBSS and committed to continuing the platform’s work without Russia. In this way, the CBSS should further develop its agenda within this Zeitenwende mentality, by strengthening the long-term involvement of Ukraine.

In the CBSS, diplomatic cooperation is organised by the foreign ministries as well as national parliaments and regional assemblies. The next annual meeting will now be hosted by the German Bundestag in Berlin between August 26th and 28th 2023. This year’s conference focused on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Until the beginning of this year, five legislative bodies from the Russian Federation – including the State Duma and the assemblies of the relevant regions such as Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg and Novgorod, which were previously members of the Baltic Parliamentary Conference – were still actively involved.

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference is the parliamentary forum of the Baltic Sea region. It was founded in 1991 and brings together members of 22 national and regional parliaments with the aim of promoting a common identity for the Baltic Sea region. The delegation of the German Bundestag, which was led by Johannes Schraps, a member of the German Social Democrats since March 2018, included five MPs.

The priorities of the German presidency

The German presidency focuses on issues linked to the council’s priorities in general terms. The projects and initiatives, as well as support for the thematic networks of the German presidency, are in line with the priorities of CBSS cooperation. This is organised by the secretariat and based on the Vilnius II declaration. These priorities include regional identity, a safe and secure region, and a sustainable and prosperous region. These three priorities aim to address the themes of sustainable development, environment, sustainable maritime economy, education, labour, culture, youth engagement, civil security, children and human trafficking. Based on this, every presidency sets its own targets and implements them in the framework of their diplomatic work and project activities. In the case of the current German presidency, it is focusing on offshore wind energy, the removal of munitions waste, and youth, which harkens back to the former Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue. To gain success amidst the Zeitenwende, the German presidency should pursue dialogue with experts from all CBSS members for input and contributions. A similar meeting was held in Berlin in December 2014 including the former CBSS member of Russia.

As aforementioned, the top priority of the German presidency is the promotion of offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea. The members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States share the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050 at the latest. The Baltic Sea region offers great potential for the generation of renewable energy, especially through offshore wind turbines. In close cooperation with the energy ministers, the members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States would like to agree on the implementation of ambitious offshore targets and initiate concrete cooperation.

The second goal is the removal of munitions waste in the Baltic Sea. The dangers posed by munitions waste in the Baltic Sea have recently attracted increased attention. The seabed is littered with an estimated 400,000 tonnes of conventional explosives and around 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons. This is roughly equivalent to the total load of 11,000 semi-trucks and poses a deadly threat to the environment and marine life. Germany would like to use the Council of the Baltic Sea States as a platform to forge a common understanding on the waste’s impact and the challenges associated with it in the sea. Under the German presidency, regional cooperation on this important topic will be further developed.

A third priority is youth as a driver for issues of remembrance and reconciliation. Germany sees the value of cooperation between young people from different countries in the Baltic Sea region. This provides answers to the challenges of the region and beyond. Such activities cut across the entire work of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. This topic is of particular importance against the backdrop of the current European Year of Youth. A previous example was the Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue in September 2014, which started with a youth dialogue in Tallinn on historical reappraisal. The young participants presented results at the European Commission in Brussels, as well as at the Genshagen Foundation near Potsdam.

The German presidency is called upon to organise activities together with civil society actors and young people under the umbrella of the European Year of Youth. The possibilities are manifold. Seminars, festivals, conferences, debates, dialogue events, political projects, special programmes, information campaigns, research, publications and many other formats are possible. The further development of the Baltic Way to a Baltic Sea format is to be considered. With this objective in mind, the German presidency has proposed the following approach for youth cooperation in the Baltic Sea region:

• Developing a civil society textbook for students by students.
• Individual member states such as Germany, Lithuania and Poland continuing to work together to create digital educational material about a common Baltic history, present and future.
• Preparing and presenting a textbook of civil societies in the CBSS member states in English, as a working language of the group.
• Project design in consultation with the German presidency of the CBSS. Gaining partners including expert opinions and testimonies of contemporary witnesses.
• Developing democratic and future-oriented teaching materials and opportunities for designers and decision makers to publicly present their work.

Strategic steps for the future

It is important that the German presidency seeks to transform the council in today’s crisis of changing times. An important first step was taken in 2022 in Kristiansand, Norway. The agenda to be developed will be shaped by the open window of opportunity for the CBSS.  The foreign minister of Lithuania suggested to stand with Ukraine. It also will be a commitment to continue and strengthen our regional cooperation for the sake of the safety, security, and well-being of the Baltic Sea region. The next meeting may act as the continuation of the annual summits of heads of state and government, or meetings at the level of foreign ministers. The content at this level largely concerns the implications of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, especially since Kyiv is an observer state and will need assistance in rebuilding activities after the war. An important strategic step is the adaptation of existing goals to the new challenges. Already in the run-up to the reform of the Vilnius Strategy, it is important to engage in dialogue with regional decision makers and think tanks to make the CBSS an active player in changing times.

Beyond purely diplomatic cooperation, it is also important to adapt the second level of project work accordingly. The German presidency has already started with three initiatives: offshore wind energy, the removal of munitions waste and youth cooperation. The task now remains to adapt these priorities to the goals of changing times, so that the Council of the Baltic Sea States continues to play an important part in shaping peace and development in the Baltic Sea region.

The author would like to thank Cornelius Ochmann for his input into this article.

Iris Kempe is a non-resident fellow of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. She was previously a senior advisor at the Council of the Baltic Sea States and regional director at the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation South Caucasus.

Council of the Baltic Sea States, Europe, Germany, Russian war, Zeitenwende