Foreign Minister Paet: Baltic Sea Region Co-operation Serves as Example for Creation of Danube Strategy

09.03.2010

Nr 79-E

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasised today that the Baltic Sea Region Strategy is a great opportunity for developments in the entire region and added that it is essential to include all the countries in the region, and not only on the governmental level. “Contributions on the regional and local levels are of the utmost important because the implementation of the strategy largely depends on them,” said Paet.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that the Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is based on the common understanding and values of the countries in the region. “This is also why our region possesses all the qualifications to be able to maximise our potential, become more competitive, more mobile, safer and more sustainable, thereby increasing well-being in the entire region,” the foreign minister said in his speech at Tallinn University.

Paet added that the Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is a comprehensive initiative. The Baltic Sea Strategy is the European Union’s first regional initiative and serves as an example for the formation of other strategies, including one in the Danube region. They supplement one another to become a unified whole. “With this, we are contributing to new thinking in European Union policies in general. All of us can only benefit from this,” said Paet.

Within the Baltic Sea Region Strategy, Estonia must fulfil the tremendous responsibility of co-ordinating internal market projects. “Competitiveness in both internal and external markets is essential for survival in today’s economic situation. The strategy, which began under more favourable circumstances, has therefore taken on even more significance,” Paet noted.

Foreign Minister Paet said that Estonia needs a very strong and competitive European Union and an internal market that functions well, with no obstacles. “This is both in our interests and in the interests of the entire European Union, but it cannot be achieved without well-functioning regional co-operation,” he added. The foreign minister also noted that the Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is not a miracle cure. “The strategy will be exactly as effective as all of the activities that go into it. It was compiled with a long-term perspective, based upon the desire of all the parties involved to do something good for it,” he added.

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