NB8 "wise men" produce first report

  • 2010-08-27
  • TBT Staff

The NB8 meeting saw the publication of the first report by a group humbly known as the "wise men".

RIGA -- A meeting of the foreign ministers from the Nordic and Baltic countries, known as the NB8, has resulted in the creation of a group of "wise men" who will produce an annual report offering recommendations on areas of cooperation.

"Our report consists of two major parts – a visionary part and the recommendations," the report says.

"In the visionary part we have aimed at taking a wider look at the development in the past, present and future of the NB8 cooperation, and we have tried to indicate the general shortcomings we should address today. In the recommendation part we have included concrete suggestions in the following fields: Foreign political dialogue, Cooperation on diplomatic representations, Civil security, including cyber security, Defense cooperation, Energy, The NB8 brand," it says.

The report was spearheaded by Latvia and Denmark in their capacities as the presidents of the Baltic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Foreign Policy Cooperation.

The 38 recommendations in the report range from military funding to pollution monitoring to the creation of an NB8 scholarship fund.

A full version of the report can be found at http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/2010/august/27-01/