The Federal Foreign Office and the Southeast Europe Association are jointly organizing an international conference on "EU and Black Sea Regional Cooperation" from 7-8 May. The conference hopes to identify realistic and well-defined options for an EU policy on the Black Sea, not least with a view to strengthening regional cooperation within the Black Sea region itself.
The German EU Council Presidency attaches great importance to formulating and consolidating an EU policy specifically for the Black Sea region. Since the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU on 1 January 2007, the European Union has itself directly bordered the Black Sea. The significance of the region for the EU has thus grown in both economic and security-policy terms.
The conference will be opened by Gernot Erler, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, and Dr Erhard Busek, Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. Some 100 experts, government representatives and members of international organizations from the EU states, the entire Black Sea region, Russia and the USA have registered for the event. The conference language will be English.
The opening sessions on the morning of 7 May are open to the press.
You are requested to register with the Southeast Europe Association under info@suedosteuropa-gesellschaft.com.
