Baltic Sea states leaders gather in Vilnius

VILNIUS - Leaders from around the Baltic Sea have gathered in Vilnius to launch the Baltic Sea States Summit, where the country's adopted the "Vilnius Decleration - A Vision for the Baltic Sea Region by 2020."

"The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) succeeded in its original task, to bridge old divides. It should now look with confidence to the future. The joint vision 2020 that we are adopting in this Summit contains the forward-looking objectives," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in his keynote speech at the event.

The declaration covers economic, ecological and social aspects of the region’s sustainable development, the Lithuanian foreign ministry said in a press release.

It includes commitements to restore the ecological health of the Baltic Sea, to foster investment-friendly economies and innovation driven production, built on active application of information technologies, to create integrated energy markets and well-interconnected transport networks, effectively reducing unemployment, social exclusion and inequality in the labour market, to ensure region’s social well-being and public security, to form a common regional identity and promote extended people-to-people contacts,.

It was the final event hosted by Lithuania while the country holds the rotating presidency of the CBSS, which it will hand over to Norway on July 1.