At its online meeting on 5 May, the Monitoring Committee of the Interreg Baltic Sea Programme selected the application of Lithuania to organise the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2021 in Lithuania for approval.
This Forum is the largest EUSBSR event, taking place on an annual basis in EUSBSR Member States. Around 1000 persons participate in the Forum where issues important for the whole Baltic Sea region and requiring common solutions are being discussed.
With a view of increasing awareness about the possibilities provided by the EUSBSR, ensuring more active involvement of local level and the youth, the Annual Forum will be organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kaunas City Municipality, Klaipėda City Municipality and the Union of the Baltic Cities.
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Arnoldas Pranckevičius, welcomed the fact that this significant event will be organised in Lithuania from 27 September to 1 October: „After 8 years the EUSBSR Annual Forum, although virtually, comes back to Lithuania. That will be an opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation (whose importance increased during COVID-19 pandemic). We expect the Lithuanian society to actively engage in the discussions of the Forum and provide ideas on how common issues for all Baltic Sea region countries might be solved. What is more, we want to use this opportunity to increase visibility of Lithuania, to present Klaipėda, European Youth Capital 2021, and Kaunas, European Capital of Culture 2022“.
Taking into account ambitious EU goals of green and digital transformation and the fact that climate is mainstreamed in all EUSBSR Policy areas, the topic of the Forum will be “Green Recovery”.
The main principle of the event will be synergies. The organizers aim at joining important political issues and culture, more engagement of local level; involvement of the cities and their strengthened cooperation.
The first EUSBSR Annual Forum in Lithuania took place on 11-12 November 2013 in Vilnius.
More about the previous Annual Forums: https://www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/annual-forums