Baltic Assembly to discuss security of the Baltic states

TALLINN - Next week, members of parliament, speakers, and government representatives from the Baltic states will gather in Tallinn for the 45th Session of the Baltic Assembly and the 32nd Baltic Council to discuss the security of the Baltic states and strengthening defense cooperation.

The gathering will begin on Thursday, October 22, with a formal ceremony where the Baltic Assembly (BA) prizes and medals will be awarded. This year's BA Prize for the Arts was awarded to jewelry and video artist Darja Popolitova. The Prize for Literature was awarded to Latvian poet Karlis Verdins and translator Valts Ernstreits for the poetry collection "Libiesu balades/Livod baladod", or "Livonian Ballads". The Prize for Science was awarded to Lithuanian researcher in comparative historical sociology Zenonas Norkus for two monographs on post-communist reconstruction. The ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. in the House of the Knighthoods.

On Friday, October 23, a meeting of the BA Presidium and the speakers of the Baltic parliaments will be held at the Riigikogu, followed by the opening of the 45th Session of the BA at 10 a.m. The session will be opened with addresses by the speakers of the three Baltic states and will be chaired by Baltic Assembly President Timo Suslov and BA Vice Presidents Giedrius Drukteinis and Janis Vucans.

Also on Friday, the 32nd meeting of the Baltic Council, the cooperation body for the governments and parliaments of the Baltic states, will take place. The Baltic Council session will be chaired by Baltic Assembly President Timo Suslov and the representative of Estonia, the presiding country of the Baltic Council of Ministers. Representatives from the Latvian and Lithuanian governments will also deliver addresses.

A press conference will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday in the White Hall of the Riigikogu, where journalists will have the opportunity to ask questions to the three representatives of the Baltic Council of Ministers and the heads of the Baltic Assembly delegations. Immediately before the press conference, Baltic Assembly President Timo Suslov and the representative of Estonia, the presiding country of the Baltic Council of Ministers, will sign a joint statement of the Baltic Assembly and the Baltic Council of Ministers.

The BA session will continue in the afternoon, with discussions on ensuring the security of the Baltic states and the next steps needed to strengthen defense cooperation. At the end of the session, a new BA president will be elected, and the 45th resolution and final documents of the Baltic Assembly will be signed. After the session concludes, Estonia will hand over the presidency of the Baltic Assembly and the Baltic Council of Ministers to Lithuania.

The Baltic Assembly is a consultative cooperation organization of the parliaments of the three Baltic states, which discusses issues of mutual interest.