Vejonis and Pivnenko Address XI Baltic Sea NGO Forum

“NGOs can be seen as organizational manifestations of popular engagement in various civil issues. NGOs emerge as a means of safeguarding democratic and human rights and freedoms, building opinion, mobilizing resources, and exerting pressure on decision-makers. NGOs can have many functions that are conducive to a well-functioning parliamentary democracy which is firmly anchored at grassroots level. NGO´s play an invaluable role both as opinion-makers and independent experts, and their views, warnings and advice should be taken seriously”, said Raimonds Vejonis, BSPC Vice President, in his keynote address at the XI Baltic Sea NGO Forum in St Petersburg 16 April. Valentina Pivnenko, member of the BSPC Standing Committee, underlined in her opening words that “people-to-people contacts constitute the basis for regional cooperation and socio-economic development of the Baltic Sea Region. Therefore, it is fundamentally important to remove obstacles – such as visa restrictions – that impede the free cross-border movement of people and enterprises”. Vejonis stressed that it is BSPC´s opinion that “NGOs and their cooperation in the Region should be strengthened, for instance by giving administrative and economic support for the international networking of NGOs, and by supporting the continued activities of the NGO Forum. The imposition of legislation that restricts international cooperation among NGOs and hampers the possibilities to obtain international funding should be abolished”, he concluded. Information and documentation from the NGO Forum can be accessed at: www.bsngoforum.net