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Harald Kaiser(not a XING member)Gruppen-Newsletter: 22nd MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC CO
28 May 2010
PRESS RELEASE
The 22nd Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was held on 28 May 2010 in Sofia with the theme “BSEC-EU Relations”. The meeting was hosted by the Republic of Bulgaria. His Excellency Mr. Nickolay MLADENOV, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, chaired the meeting in his capacity as the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization.
The representatives of the BSEC Member States1, as well as Related Bodies2, BSEC Observers3, Sectoral Dialogue Partners4 and other guests participated in and delivered statements at the meeting
In the working session of the meeting, the Ministers exchanged views on issues of common concern to the region.
The Ministers examined various measures to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of BSEC. In this context, schedule related adaptations, in order to fully implement the Council’s previous Resolution concerning the move towards a two-per-year Chairmanship sequence, were decided on.
1 The 12 BSEC Member States are comprised of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine which are littorals of the Black Sea, as well as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Moldova and Serbia.
2 The Parliamentary Assembly of the BSEC (PABSEC), the BSEC Business Council (BSEC BC), the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) and the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) are the four Related Bodies of BSEC.
3 Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Israel, Italy, Poland, Slovak Republic, Tunisia, USA, International Black Sea Club, Energy Charter Secretariat, Black Sea Commission and the Commission of the European Communities have Observer status in BSEC.
4 Hungary, Iran, Jordan, Montenegro, UK, Black Sea International Shipowners Association (BINSA),
Black and Azov Seas Ports Association (BASPA), Black Sea Region Association of Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers (BRASS), Danube Commission, International Network for SMEs (INSME) and Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications (RCC) have Sectoral Dialogue Partnership status in BSEC.
Some of the items on the agenda of the meeting in Sofia were related to the adoption of the Memoranda of Understanding on enhancing cooperation with the Central European Initiative and the Danube Commission. Other issues on the agenda were the use of BSEC Project Development Fund for projects of regional impact, the appointment of Country-Coordinators for some of the BSEC Working Groups, the review of the state of cooperation among the Member States and the status of implementation of BSEC Council Resolutions, Decisions and Recommendations. Developments in BSEC-EU interaction were also addressed.
In Sofia, the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs considered the applications for the renewal of Observer status and the granting and renewal of Sectoral Dialogue Partnership status to various countries and organizations. Within this framework, Sectoral Dialogue Partnership status was granted to Japan, the Republic of Slovenia and the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN).
At the conclusion of the meeting, a ceremony took place whereby Bulgaria handed over the Chairmanship-in-Office of BSEC to Greece. The Hellenic Republic will officially assume the Chairmanship as of 1 June 2010, for a period of seven months until 31 December 2010.
As is known, BSEC was launched as a regionally owned initiative on 25 June 1992 at the Istanbul Summit, at a time when regional cooperation was most needed in the transformation process that the countries of the region were undergoing. The idea that stronger economic cooperation among the Black Sea countries would enhance peace and stability in the region was the underlying philosophy behind BSEC.
In 1998, BSEC was officially transformed from an initiative into a regional cooperation organization with the adoption of the BSEC Charter in Yalta.
Today, BSEC serves as a forum for cooperation in a wide range of areas and a platform for political dialogue for its 12 Member States. The BSEC countries encompass an area of approximately 20 million square kilometers with 330 million people. Transport, energy, trade, economic development, communications, education, culture, tourism, science, technology, healthcare, good governance, customs services, exploration and extraction of hydrocarbon resources, fight against organized crime and terrorism are among the most active fields of cooperation within the framework of the Organization.
source: BSEC
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Dieser Newsletter wurde von Moderator Harald Kaiser für die Gruppe "Black Sea Business Network" verfasst.
Besuchen Sie hier die Gruppe:
http://www.xing.com/net/bsbn/
Klicken Sie hier, um den Newsletter abzubestellen:http://www.xing.com/app/network?op=newsletterabo.unset&n...
- 03 Jun 2010, 10:12 am
