Participating countries

The Baltic Sea has been for hundreds of years a Mare Nostrum for the Baltic people. For a long time the area was dominated by a nearly universal culture, which based itself on Christianity and trade. The 20th century with its dramatic political divisions changed the picture. The Baltic countries were for five decades a part of the Soviet Union and Poland belonged to the Soviet Bloc after World War II. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union there has been a new dramatic but peaceful change during the last twenty years. All countries in the region apart from Russia are now members of the European Union. The Baltic States and Poland are rather recent members of the European Union, Denmark has been a member of the EU for over three decades while Finland and Sweden joined the EU in 1995. The majority of the countries in the area are members of the NATO, while Finland and Sweden are not.

The challenges, which the Baltic Countries share today, are common for them all. The viewpoints on the matters differ though. The aim of the Baltic Europe Consultations project is to formulate common recommendations, based on consultations in the participating countries Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany and Latvia, for the European Union.