(MENAFN- AzerNews) Russia's war on Ukraine shifted the security policy in the
Baltic Sea region, as states lost trust in a partnership
established in 1992, the German foreign minister said on
Friday.
Annalena Baerbock was referring to the Council of the Baltic Sea
States (CBSS), a political forum for regional cooperation from
which Moscow withdrew last May. Its membership was suspended over
its“special military operation” in Ukraine two months ago.
Addressing a press briefing with Norwegian Foreign Minister
Anniken Huitfeldt and Finnish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Johanna Sumuvuori after a ministerial meeting of the CBSS in
Wismar, Germany, Baerbock said: "With its war of aggression against
Ukraine, Russia shifted the security policy coordinates in the
Baltic Sea region as well. The trust we had placed in a partnership
since 1992 was gone."
Germany assumed the CBSS presidency for one year in 2022, and
Finland would take charge on July 1.
Baltic Sea partners will not just sit back and watch this
"Russian violation of international law," and that's the reason why
Russia quit the organization, she said.
"We are committed to freedom and territorial integrity of
Ukraine. And we stand in full solidarity with the people in Ukraine
in their fight for freedom and peace as long as it takes," Baerbock
added.
She argued that Ukrainians "want nothing but, as we do, [to]
live in freedom and a peaceful neighborhood with Russia and other
states."
The foreign minister said the Ukraine war led the Baltic Sea
partners to get closer in ties. "We need NATO for security in the
Baltic Sea region," Baerbock said, welcoming Finland's membership
into the US-led military alliance and expressing hope for Sweden's
accession "as soon as possible."
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