NB8 state secretaries adopt "wise men" recommendations

  • 2010-11-12
  • TBT Staff

State secretaries from the 8 Nordic and Baltic countries agreed to implement some of the proposals contained in the

RIGA - The state secretaries from 8 Nordic countries at a meeting in Riga have agreed to adopt a number of proposals from the "wise men" report released earlier this year.

In August a meeting of the foreign ministers from the Nordic and Baltic countries, known as the NB8, resulted in the creation of a group of "wise men" who subseuently produced their first annual report offering recommendations on areas of cooperation.

"The State Secretaries agreed on 16 recommendations the implementation of which will be launched in the nearest future," a Latvian foreign ministry press release said.

The recommendations concern NB8 co-operation within international organizations, co-operation regarding the NB8 diplomatic representations, a deeper joint involvement in the work of the Baltic Defence College, as well as specific measures for strengthening the visibility of NB8 co-operation, the press release said.

The Secretaries of State also exchanged opinions about the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the NATO Strategic Concept and co-operation with partner countries, the situation in Afghanistan, and joint work on preparing a UN draft resolution on sea-dumped chemical weapons. The Secretary of State of the Foreign Ministry of Latvia Andris Teikmanis briefed his colleagues about the current developments concerning the hostage crisis resolution in Sudan.

The NB8 include Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland.