The 20th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was held in Yerevan on 16 April 2009. The meeting was hosted by the Republic of Armenia. H.E. Mr. Edward NALBANDIAN, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, chaired the meeting in his capacity as the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization.

The Ministers/Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member States (1), as well as the representatives of Related Bodies (2), BSEC Observers (3), Sectoral Dialogue Partners (4) and special guests participated in and delivered statements at the meeting.

In the working session of the meeting, the Ministers examined the effects of the global financial crisis and the possible ways to reduce its negative consequences in the BSEC Region. The Ministers also focused on measures to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of BSEC. As it will be recalled, the “Guidelines on Improvement of the BSEC Efficiency” were adopted in the previous Meeting of the Council in Tirana on 23 October 2008.

The Council, at its meeting in Yerevan, made appointments to positions at the Secretariat of the Organization. Within this framework, Ambassador Leonidas CHRYSANTHOPOULOS was reappointed as the Secretary General of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat, while Ambassador Sumru NOYAN was appointed as the First Deputy Secretary General, becoming the first female to take over a directorial post at the Secretariat, thus also contributing to the gender balance in the Secretariat. Appointments to other positions were also made.

The Ministers took a decision on possible means of strengthening the cooperation of BSEC with international organizations dealing with issues of the protection and rehabilitation of the Black Sea marine environment. The use of BSEC funds - namely, the Project Development Fund and the Hellenic Development Fund - for projects of regional impact, was also on the agenda of the meeting.

The Council also adopted Resolutions, Decisions and Recommendations on topics such as BSEC-EU interaction, appointment of Country-Coordinators for various BSEC Working Groups, and the state of cooperation among the Member States.

In Yerevan, the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs renewed the Observer status of the Republic of Tunisia and the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution. The Council also granted Sectoral Dialogue Partnership status to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Danube Commission.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a ceremony took place whereby Armenia handed over the Chairmanship-in-Office of BSEC to Azerbaijan. The Republic of Azerbaijan will officially assume the Chairmanship as of 1 May 2009, for a period of six months until 31 October 2009.

As is known, BSEC was launched as a regionally owned initiative, with Turkey’s lead, back in 25 June 1992 at the Istanbul Summit, at a time when regional cooperation was most needed in the transformation process that the countries of the region were undergoing. The idea that stronger economic cooperation among the Black Sea countries would enhance peace and stability in the region was the underlying philosophy behind BSEC.

In 1998, BSEC was officially transformed from an initiative into a regional cooperation organization with the adoption of the BSEC Charter in Yalta.

Today, BSEC has become a project-oriented organization which serves as a forum for cooperation for its 12 Member States in a wide range of areas that include transport, energy, trade, economic development, communications, education, culture, tourism, science, technology, healthcare, good governance, customs services, exploration and extraction of hydrocarbon resources and fight against organized crime.

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For further information:

Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation