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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
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 CBSS Secretariat, Momma Reenstiernas Palats, Wollmar Yxkullsgatan 23 | |
| Abbreviation | CBSS |
|---|---|
| Formation | March 1992 |
| Type | Regional/Intergovernmental Organization |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Members |
10 observer countries |
Official language | English |
CBSS current Presidency | Estonia |
Director General (Secretariat) | Gustav Lindström |
Main organ | CBSS Secretariat |
| Website | cbss |
The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: regional identity; regional safety and security; regional sustainability and prosperity. These three priority areas aim to address the themes of sustainable development, environment, sustainable maritime economy, education, labour, culture, youth engagement, civil security, children's rights and human trafficking.
The CBSS has 11 members – 10 Member States as well as the European Union. The Member States are:
11 other countries have observer status:[3]
Belarus (suspended in 2022)
France
Hungary
Italy
Netherlands
Romania
Slovakia
Spain
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
| Jacek Starosciak | 1998–2002 |
| Hannu Halinen | 2002–2005 |
| Gabriele Kötschau | 2005–2010 |
| Jan Lundin | 2010–2016 |
| Maira Mora | 2016–2020 |
| Grzegorz Marek Poznański | 2020–2024 |
| Gustav Lindström | 2024 – current |
The CBSS was established by the region's Foreign Ministers in Copenhagen in March 1992 as a response to the geopolitical changes that took place in the Baltic Sea region with the end of the Cold War. The CBSS founders were Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, Thorvald Stoltenberg, Lennart Meri, Jānis Jurkāns, Algirdas Saudargas, Henning Christophersen, Paavo Väyrynen, Andrei Kozyrev, Margaretha af Ugglas, and Krzysztof Skubiszewski.[4] Since its founding, the CBSS has contributed to ensuring positive developments within the Baltic Sea region and has served as a driving force for multilateral cooperation.
Since 1998 the CBSS has been served by a permanent international Secretariat that is located in Stockholm, Sweden and funded by the Member States. The highest institution of CBSS is the conference of foreign ministers, which convenes once per year.[4]
On 3 March 2022, a declaration from 11 members of the CBSS suspended Russia from the Council's activities with immediate effect as a result of 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, Belarus, with observer status, was suspended from participating in CBSS activities.[5][6]
The Council Presidency rotates between the ten Member States on an annual basis. The European Union does not hold the Presidency. Each Presidency lays down a set of specific priorities to guide the works of the Council for the Presidency year and lasts for one year from 1 July until 30 June.[4]
| Year | Country | Presidency priorities |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-2025 |  Estonia
|
Strengthening resilience and sustainability |
| 2023–2024 |  Finland
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Comprehensive security, crisis preparedness and resilience |
| 2022–2023 |  Germany
|
Offshore wind energy, dumped munitions, youth |
| 2021–2022 |  Norway
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Accelerating cooperation on the green transition, fostering regional identity and cooperation, supporting the current mandates on civil protection |
| 2020–2021 |  Lithuania
|
Sustainable Development, green and maritime tourism, civil protection in the Region, fight against human trafficking for labour exploitation in the Region |
| 2019–2020 |  Denmark
|
Making the CBSS a More Flexible Organization |
| 2018–2019 |  Latvia
|
Integrity & Social Security, Dialogue and Responsibility |
| 2017–2018 |  Sweden
|
Sustainability, Continuity and Adaptability |
| 2016–2017 |  Iceland
|
Children, Equality and Democracy |
| 2015–2016 |  Poland
|
Sustainability, Creativity and Safety |
| 2014–2015 | Estonia
|
Practicality, Efficiency and Cooperation |
| 2013–2014 | Finland
|
Maritime Policy, Civil Protection and People-to-people Contacts[7] |
| 2012–2013 |  Russia
|
Stricter environmental standards for maritime transport, synchronizing regional strategies, improving the ecological state of the region[8] |
| 2011–2012 | Germany
|
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| 2010–2011 | Norway
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Fight against trafficking in human beings, Maritime policy |
| 2009–2010 | Lithuania
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| 2008–2009 | Denmark
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| 2007–2008 | Latvia
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| 2006–2007 | Sweden
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| 2005–2006 | Iceland
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| 2004–2005 | Poland
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| 2003–2004 | Estonia
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| 2002–2003 | Finland
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| 2001–2002 | Russia
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| 2000–2001 | Germany
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| 1999–2000 | Norway
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| 1998–1999 | Lithuania
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| 1997–1998 | Denmark
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| 1996–1997 | Latvia
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| 1995–1996 | Sweden
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| 1994–1995 | Poland
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| 1993–1994 | Estonia
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| 1992–1993 | Finland
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The Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) consists of high-ranking representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the ten CBSS Member States as well as of a high-level representative of the European Union. The CSO serves as the main discussion forum and decision-making body for matters related to the work of the Council between Ministerial Sessions. The CSO monitors, facilitates and aims to coordinate the work of all CBSS structures.
The period chaired by each country rotates on an annual basis and follows the Council Presidency. The CSO Chairman is a representative, usually at ambassadorial level, appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country which holds the Council Presidency.
A number of CBSS structures are operating under the auspices of the CSO.
The CSO monitors the work of the Expert Groups and coordinates the work undertaken in the agreed three long-term priorities 'Regional Identity', 'Sustainable & Prosperous Region' and 'Safe & Secure Region'.
The CBSS Expert Group on Sustainable Development, which managed the Baltic 2030 Action Plan,[9] ceased its operations in 2023.
A Permanent International Secretariat of the CBSS was established following a decision taken at the 7th Ministerial Session of the CBSS in 1998 in Nyborg, Denmark. The Secretariat was officially inaugurated at its premises on the island of Strömsborg in Stockholm on 20 October 1998. From November 2010 until July 2020 the Secretariat was located at Räntmästarhuset at Slussplan 9, Stockholm, Sweden. Since July 2020, Momma Reenstiernas Palace at Wollmar Yxkullsgatan 23 is the new home of the CBSS Secretariat.
The mandate of the Secretariat is as follows:
Since the 10th Ministerial Session of the CBSS in 2001, the Council has intensified efforts to coordinate CBSS activities with other organisations actively working to advance regional cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region. The CBSS has taken the initiative to organise annual coordination meetings, (organised and presided over by the CSO Chair), with the participation of Baltic Sea regional organisations, thus providing a more structured channel for involving the strategic partners to voice their concerns and coordinate their efforts with the CBSS and other organisations such as:
In June 2014, the Council decided, after an evaluation and review of the CBSS five long-term priorities, to mainstream three renewed long-term priorities for the Council of the Baltic Sea States – Regional Identity, Sustainable & Prosperous Region and Safe & Secure Region.
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: regional identity; regional safety and security; regional sustainability and prosperity. These three priority areas aim to address the themes of sustainable development, environment, sustainable maritime economy, education, labour, culture, youth engagement, civil security, children's rights and human trafficking.
Baltic Sea States Sub-regional Co-operation, BSSSC is an international network associating local governments and local government organizations of the countries around the Baltic Sea. It was established in 1993 under the Stavanger Declaration as a result of the establishing Council of the Baltic Sea States a year earlier. It has an observer status in HELCOM.
Baltic 21 is a plan to cooperate on implementing regional sustainable development. It is managed by the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). The mission of Baltic 21 is to contribute towards advancing sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region by coordinating goals and activities, and by serving as a forum for cooperation across borders and between stakeholder groups.
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), and has a population of 2.9 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities include Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians are the titular nation, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of Balts, and speak Lithuanian. For millennia, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united for the first time by Mindaugas, who formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. Subsequent expansion and consolidation resulted in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which by the 14th century was the largest country in Europe. In 1386, the grand duchy entered into a de facto personal union with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The two realms were united into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, forming one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries gradually dismantled it between 1772 and 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. Towards the end of World War I, Lithuania declared independence in 1918, founding the modern Republic of Lithuania. In World War II, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany, before being reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet occupation lasted until the early 1950s. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to break away when it proclaimed the restoration of its independence. Lithuania is a developed country with a high-income and an advanced economy ranking very high in Human Development Index. Lithuania ranks highly in digital infrastructure, press freedom and happiness. It is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Eurozone, the Nordic Investment Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Schengen Agreement, NATO, OECD and the World Trade Organization. It also participates in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional co-operation format.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968.
