Tal av Statsrådsberedningen

Anförande av statssekreterare Christian Danielsson vid högnivåseminarium om att främja hållbart samarbete mellan Östersjöregionen och Ukraina

Publicerad 13 december 2022

Den 8 december talade statssekreterare Christian Danielsson vid ett högnivåseminarium om att främja hållbart samarbete mellan Östersjöregionen och Ukraina.

Talet är publicerat på engelska. Det talade ordet gäller.

Thank you (Fredrik) for the introduction!

Dear friends of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, dear friends of the Danube Strategy, dear friends of the European Union, honoured Ambassadors and last, but not least, dear Ukrainian friends.

I am honoured to be here today under the Swedish presidency of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR).  Whether you are attending this conference remotely or on site, I want to welcome you all to this event. 

I am especially happy to welcome my dear colleague, Mr Ihor Korkhovyi. I am also very pleased to see Mr Ambassador, Andrij Plachotnjuk, in the audience.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its far reaching consequences, dominates the political agenda of EU MS: s today. The war has reminded us that our liberties should never be taken for granted. 

The European Union has been united in its determination to counter Russia through sanctions, and its robust support for Ukraine - politically, economically, militarily, and humanitarianly. That support will continue. The Baltic Sea Region is not an exception, and the co-operation with Ukraine will be a given priority on our agenda today. 

Exploring how to further develop cooperation and widen participation developing new forms of cooperation is what we should look for. It includes spreading knowledge of how the Strategy contributes to societal development; and creating the conditions that enable more people to take part in cooperation within the Strategy.

The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region has delivered. It launched during the Swedish Presidency of the European Council in 2009. 

It has formed an important framework for transnational cooperation in the region and has produced useful results in many different areas. Macroregional strategies offer platforms for sustainable cooperation beyond single projects enabling stakeholders to jointly tackle today’s societal challenges.

This platform cooperates with Norway and Iceland while Russia and Belarus are suspended following a decision taken March 9th this year.

That is why we today want to raise the question on how the Strategy, as a macroregional strategy and a multilateral platform, can contribute to supporting Ukraine.

With today’s event, we want to offer a first formal occasion for a dialogue where we can explore this together. We are therefore very pleased that we, besides the representatives from the Strategy, also have the academic world, the EU Commission and the Danube Strategy present here today in order to contribute to this dialogue.

The impressive leadership of Ukraine as President of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region during the war has inspired us all. This conference is the start of what we hope will be a coordinated support from actors in the Baltic Sea Region to the recovery of Ukraine. For example, in the area of energy, competence supply or use of natural resources.

We hope several of the initiatives emerging from today’s discussions, will be carried out in cooperation between actors in Ukraine and in the Baltic Sea region, maybe involving also other countries in the Danube region.

It goes without saying that one of the top priorities for the SE EU Presidency in 2023 is about security in the European Union, in light of the war in Ukraine. The Russian invasion in Ukraine is an attack on Ukraine, but also an attack on European security and all the values that Europe stands for.

The Russian aggression has had major consequences in our region and in Europe as a whole.  We must take a united responsibility in all possible manners and on all levels to strengthen the cooperation in our region and in Europe.  It has never been more important.

Thank you!