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With a view to the 25 th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Riga, the BSPC Observer in HELCOM has issued her report on HELCOM developments in 2015-2016. The report will be distributed at the Riga conference and can also be accessed online on the Observer’s webpage .

With a view to the 25 th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Riga, the BSPC Rapporteurs on Integrated Maritime Policy have issued their report on developments in this field for the time period 2015-2016. The report will be distributed at the Riga conference and can also be accessed online on the Rapporteurs’ webpage .

The Working Group on Sustainable Tourism will present its Mid-way Report to the 25 th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Riga. The printed report will be distributed at the annual conference in Riga; the digital version – along with an annex to the report containing all expert presentations – can now be accessed online on the Working Group’s webpage .

The President of the BSPC, Prof. Dr. Jānis Vucāns, addressed the 47 th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Asssembly in Moscow. He underlined the crucial need for the joint fight against international terrorism as well as for solving the refugee crisis, which the BSPC Standing Committee had dealt with extensively throughout the Latvian BSPC Presidency. He expressed his sincere condolences to all the victims and the families affected by the terrorist attacks on Istanbul Ataturk Airport on 28 June. “It is the job of politicians to ensure that people are safe and feel safe” “All across the world people feel threatened by terrorism and it is the job of politicians to ensure that people are safe and feel safe. But we must also look out that we do not solely focus on defending our security, but also on defending the values that make us strong. People coming together is the basis for any cooperation. But cooperation also contributes to peace.” “Cooperation is more important than ever before” Mr Vucāns emphasized that this has been the main objective of the BSPC ever since its foundation in 1991. “National and regional parliaments around the Baltic Sea, including EU Member States, the Russian Federation and Norway, came together after the Fall of the Iron Curtain to form a forum for political dialogue between our parliaments. The sea that once divided is now a sea of peace and freedom. But there is no denying the fact that there have also been signs of tension in the Baltic Sea Region. Especially in times like these, cooperation is more important than ever before, especially also at the inter-parliamentary level. The representatives from the countries around the Baltic Sea, who have been chosen by their constituents, must jointly work towards maintaining the peaceful cooperation that has characterized the region for the past 25 years.” Silver Jubilee of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference The President informed that the BSPC will remember its Silver Jubilee at its conference later this year in Riga, where issues of cooperation in the region will be given special attention. The conference will furthermore focus on issues related to the labor market and labor mobility in the region, namely on “how to develop competitiveness in the Baltic Sea Region by linking education and the labour market”, as well as on “realising employment opportunities – improving labour mobility and combating youth unemployment”. “Both issues are of fundamental importance to achieve the common goal of a prosperous region.” “Cooperation at parliamentary level has intrinsic value” Concluding his remarks, Mr Vucāns underlined that it is the strong belief of the BSPC that cooperation can be fostered if it focuses on concrete issues, which actually advance the wellbeing of the people. “Because of the variety of topics the BSPC deals with, we will always seek an exchange of opinions and ideas with other inter-parliamentary organizations. We believe in the importance of parliamentarians from different regions coming together and standing together as friends. Against the background of the variety of topics we deal with and the current political situation in Europe, cooperation at parliamentary level has intrinsic value because such cooperation involves the elected representatives of the citizens of the participating countries.” Meetings in the margins of the conference The BSPC President met with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Petro Agramunt , in the margins of the conference about the refugee crisis, ways of combating international terrorism and the “No hate, no fear” initiative recently launched by PACE. Jānis Vucāns also met with Mr Alexey Sergeev , the Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Together with the Head of the BSPC Secretariat Bodo Bahr they discussed prospects of further cooperation on relevant issues of the international agenda, with a special focus on environmental cooperation. The BSPC President shared on the BSPC activities in the spheres of education and youth and expressed his hope that the IPA CIS would attend the upcoming 25 th BSPC in Riga, during which these topics will play a main role. Jānis Vucāns also invited the PABSEC President and President of the Serbian parliament, Ms Maja Gojković , to the 25 th BSPC, who will speak at the BSPC’s Silver Jubilee conference this August in Riga.

The Working Group on Sustainable Tourism streamlines its strategic priorities and agrees on political recommendations for the 25 th annual conference in Riga. On 20 th and 21 st June the Working Group on Sustainable Tourism held its 3 rd meeting in Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia. Among the regular Working Group members, the President of the BSPC, Prof. Dr. Jānis Vucāns, and Franz Thönnes, Head of the German Delegation to the BSPC, followed the invitation to the Working Group meeting in Russia. At the beginning of the two days, the Working Group was provided a visit to Kizhi Island, the largest open air museum of Russia. Since 1990 the Kizhi Architectural Ensemble is included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. Therefore, the first presentation contained “The use of local expertise for the development of sustainable tourism in the object of Culture Heritage of UNESCO” which was held by Ms. Elena Bogdanova, Director, Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture “State Historic-Architectural and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve “Kizhi”. For Kizhi Island it is a great challenge to preserve the cultural ethnic heritage and the wooden architecture on the one hand and to increase the number of tourists on the other hand. The presentation continued the expert presentation about “UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Baltic Sea Region, Case Study: Sustainable Tourism Strategy for Suomenlinna” which was held in Helsinki by Petteri Takkula. Within the actual Working Group meeting seven presentations concerning environmental issues in the Karelian region and impacts on the Baltic Sea as well as concerning objects of sustainable tourism development of the Republic of Karelia and concerning tourism development in Kalevala national municipal region were provided. Following the presentations, the meeting decided under the chair of Andre Sepp, Vice-Chair of the Working Group, on a new version of its strategic focus within its Working Programme. As consequence, the 13 former priorities were limited to 9 priorities so that the scope of work will now be more streamlined and focussed. Furthermore, the members of the Working Group agreed on political recommendations that will be forwarded to the upcoming 25 th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference which will take place in Riga, 28 – 30 August 2016. The next Working Group meeting will be held in Pärnu, 18 – 20 October 2016, back-to-back to the 9 th Baltic Sea Tourism Forum (BSTF). The forum will focus on three thematic priority areas such as seasonality (and tourism financing), sustainability and cooperation. Therefore, the Working Group will be incorporated in the program of the BSTF. The following parliamentarians participated at the 3 rd Working Group meeting: Andre Sepp (Parliament of Estonia), Riitta Myller (Parliament of Finland), Franz Thönnes (Parliament of Germany), Dorothee Martin (Parliament of Hamburg), Jānis Vucāns and Veiko Spolitis (Parliament of Latvia), Grzegorz Matusiak (Parliament Poland), Valentina Pivnenko (Parliament of Russia), und Bernd Voß (Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein).

Under the Chairmanship of BSPC-President Prof. Dr. Jānis Vucāns, the BSPC Standing Committee gathered in the Latvian city of Liepāja to prepare the Silver Jubilee edition of the conference this August in Riga. Delegations from the Baltic Assembly, Denmark, Finland, the German Bundestag, Hamburg, Latvia, Lithuania, the Nordic Council, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the Åland-Islands participated in the meeting. The meeting was greeted by the Deputy Mayor of Liepāja Mr Gunārs Ansiņš, who highlighted the industrial strengths of the city as well as its touristic assets. The meeting was also preceded by presentations from Ilya Ermakov, Senior Adviser Economic Cooperation, Maritime Policy, Energy at the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), and Dr. Uwe Sassenberg, Project leader of the International Project “Baltic Tram” (Transnational Research Access in the Macroregion). Mr Ermakov provided the meeting with some general information about the Baltic Sea Labour Forum as well as recent events and activities. The CBSS Secretariat is lead and coordinator of the Baltic Sea Labour Forum. The meeting discussed, amongst others, possible input by the Baltic Sea Labour Forum for the annual conference of the BSPC this August in Riga, whose main focus will be education and labour mobility in the Baltic Sea Region. Dr. Uwe Sassenberg briefed the parliamentarians on the Baltic TRAM project – one of several activities of the ScienceLink network, which is a cooperative venture involving leading universities, research centres and regional development partners in the Baltic Sea region, whose aim is to turn scientific findings into innovations more swiftly. The key aim of BALTIC TRAM is to link Research Infrastructures at research centres and universities with industrial enterprises in the Baltic Sea Region. The meeting then had a very extensive exchange of opinions on a number of issues. The meeting further prepared the 25 th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, to take place on 28-30 August 2016 in Riga, discussed the follow-up of the resolution of the 24 th annual conference in Rostock, informed itself about the work of the BSPC Working Group on Sustainable Tourism, and deliberated on the conclusions from a mission by the BSPC to Belarus, whose parliament had earlier applied for the status of Observer at the BSPC.

From 12 to 14 April a delegation of 8 parliamentarians of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference visited Minsk to discuss the issue of possible relations between the BSPC and the Parliament of Belarus. Background of the visit was that the Belarusian Parliament approached the BSPC to launch a process of contacts with the BSPC through a letter from the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus in April 2015. In this letter the request for the interest of developing cooperation with the BSPC in the spirit of trust and mutual respect was announced. Thus, the intention of the delegation was to travel to Minsk with open minds, to ask questions and to scrutinize. Members of the BSPC delegation were: Prof. Dr. Jānis Vucāns (Latvia, President of the BSPC), Ms Carola Veit (Hamburg, Vice-President of the BSPC, Germany), Ms Maria Tolppanen (Finland), Mr Franz Thönnes (Germany), Ms Giedre Purvaneckienė (Lithuania), Ms Dorota Arciszewska-Mielewczyk (Poland), Ms Valentina Pivnenko (Russia) and Mr Hans Wallmark (Sweden), the BSPC Secretariat and international advisers of the respective parliaments. The delegation met with representatives of the opposition as well as of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly and the government. Discussions were held with the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, Mr Viktor Guminsky, the Chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs , Mr Vitaly Busko, the Chairman of the Standing Commission on Human Rights and Mass Media, Mr Andrei Naumovich, Ms Alla Naumchik, the Head of delegation of the National Assembly to maintain contacts with the BSPC and Deputy Chairperson of the Standing Commission on Ecology Issues, Environment and Chernobyl Catastrophe, the chairpersons and members of several other Standing Committees -, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Mr Evgeny Shestakov and other high ranking representatives of Ministries of Energy, of Education, of Public Health, of Sports and Tourism as well as of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and of Scientific Institutes. Each delegation member also used the possibility to talk with the Ambassadors and other representatives of the respective embassies about their experiences in Belarus. The points of view of the opposition sides were discussed with Mr Nikolai Statkevich, one of the candidates of the Belarus presidential election 2010, and with Mr Andrei Dmitriev, who managed the campaign of Ms Tatiana Korotkevich, the opposition candidate in the 2015 presidential election. With regard to 30 years Chernobyl disaster remembrance in April 2016 the delegation visited also the National research Centre for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology. The aim was to gain a comprehensive overview of Belarusian positions and opinions in general and specified to current themes of the BSPC. All for the BSPC relevant and sensitive topics were discussed frankly and intensively. At the next BSPC-Standing Committee meeting, which will take place in May, the information and impressions of this visit will be evaluated to discuss the possibilities of further cooperation with the Belarusian side.

On 22/23 March, the XVII International Environmental Forum “Baltic Sea Days” took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Maria Tolppanen, member of the Finnish Parliament, and Jørn Dohrmann, member of the European Parliament, represented the BSPC at the forum and continued thus the tradition of vivid exchange of experience and information as well as of joint participation in conferences. Maria Tolppanen held a speech on behalf of the BSPC and underlined the BSPC’s efforts to further on support the work of HELCOM as much as possible. This ambition was also adopted in the resolution of the 24 th annual conference of the BSPC in Rostock last year. Under point 10 the parliamentarians from all around the Baltic Sea committed themselves to “strengthen and further develop HELCOM as the main coordinating body in the effort to protect the Baltic marine environment, and to strongly support the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), and to stress the importance of BSAP as the environmental pillar of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region”. Ms Tolppanen stressed that the BSPC especially supports the new HELCOM approach on the second holistic assessment of the ecosystem health of the Baltic Sea – the so called HOLAS II. HOLAS II will provide updated information on the status of the marine environment and cumulative pressures and impacts from major human activities. For the first time, social and economic analysis will be truly incorporated into the HELCOM assessment by linking human activities to pressures and impacts on ecosystem components within one holistic framework. This new and very practical measure will promote the understanding of the ecosystem approach what is very welcomed by the BSPC. Furthermore, Ms Tolppanen commented on the HELCOM Commission Meeting that was held 9 to 10 March. One of the most important steps or maybe even a milestone taken on that meeting was the adoption of the NECA Roadmap for the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. This roadmap for designating a NOx emission control area (NECA) in the Baltic Sea in parallel with the North Sea is a major decision in terms of concrete nutrient pollution reduction potential. In the name of all BSPC members, she thanked HELCOM for this approach and noted that surely it will be highlighted in the next BSPC resolution. Moreover, she explained that with the new established Working Group on Sustainable Tourism, the BSPC will tackle the challenges of fostering tourism in the Baltic Sea Region and at the same time conserve a good environmental state of the region. The overarching objective of the Working Group is to elaborate political positions and recommendations pertaining to sustainable tourism. For this purpose, the Working Group should establish and maintain contacts with relevant institutions, organizations and other actors in the Baltic Sea Region. Therefore, the BSPC appreciates every input from HELCOM or other actors of the Baltic Sea Region.

The Working Group on Sustainable Tourism agrees on the first part of political recommendations and discusses more focused priorities at its 2 nd meeting in Helsinki. On 20 th and 21 st March the Working Group on Sustainable Tourism gathered for the second time. After the inaugural meeting in Rostock, 11 members of Parliaments from all around the Baltic Sea region met under this meeting’s thematic focus on best practices on Sustainable Tourism. Beginning on Sunday evening Petteri Takkula (Development Manager, the Governing Body of Suomenlinna) gave an expert presentation about “UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Baltic Sea Region, Case Study: Sustainable Tourism Strategy for Suomenlinna”. According to Petteri Takkula the highest challenge is to preserve the cultural heritage on the one hand and to present and market it on the other hand. The only way to meet both requirements is a respectful use of the resources to achieve a successful asset management. His core conclusion is that the protection, preservation and presentation of the intrinsic value produces sustainable extrinsic value for the destination. On Monday morning the meeting continued at the Port of Helsinki with an expert presentation of Kari Noroviita (Director, Passenger Harbours, Port of Helsinki) and Antti Pulkkinen (Harbour Master) about the “Cruise Ship Waste Water treatment in the Baltic Sea Regions – Best Practices of the Port of Helsinki”. The representatives from the Port of Helsinki explained the expansion of the port, especially the waste water facilities. The background of the necessity to renew the port reception facilities in the entire Baltic Sea region is an international agreement between all Baltic Sea rim states with the aim to achieve the status as a so-called “special area” via the International Maritime Organization. The Baltic Sea states committed themselves to implement the requirements of the international agreement (IMO MARPOL Resolution und Annex IV, MEPC.200 (62)) within the next years. Afterwards, the meeting was provided two presentations about the “Finnish Strategies and Experiences on Sustainable Tourism” by Nina Vesterinen (Senior Specialist, Ministry of Employment and Economy) and the second about “Cycling Tourism in Europe, case Iron Curtain Trail” by Raija Ruusunen (Project Manager, Karelia University of Applied Sciences) in the Finnish Parliament. Both presentations offered good and very practical examples and approaches that can be transferred to other regions. Following the presentations, the members of the meeting discussed under the chair of Sylvia Bretschneider the issues of the Working Group Mandate, including a strategic prioritization, and the Working Programm as well as a first draft of the Mid-way Report as outcome of the Working Group. The meeting also agreed on the first part of political recommendations which will be forwarded to the annual Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Riga, 28 – 30 August 2016. The next Working Group meeting will be held in Petrosawodsk in June. Until this upcoming meeting, the members of the Working Group decided on comprehensive “homeworks” for themselves and Baltic Sea member’s governments. The following parliamentarians participated at the 2 nd Working Group meeting: Sylvia Bretschneider (Parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Sara Kemetter (Parliament of Åland), Andre Sepp (Parliament of Estonia), Riitta Myller (Parliament of Finland), Dorothee Martin (Parliament of Hamburg), Veiko Spol?tis (Parliament of Latvia), Linas Balsys (Parliament of Lithuania), Jacek Protas (Parliament Poland), Valentina Pivnenko (Parliament of Russia), Pyry Niemi (Parliament Sweden) und Bernd Voß (Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein).

Jochen Schulte attended the Final Conference of the Project “Vasco da Gama – Training for Greener and Safer Maritime Transport”, which took place in Brussels on 1 March. The issue of skills development in the maritime economy was one of the core issues of the project. The aim of the project was to contribute to achieving the development of high professional skills and the development of Education and Training within the EU. In particular, it focused on improving the skills of persons employed in European shipping with a view to addressing specific challenges such as maritime safety and the reduction of environmental damage. It also aimed to lay the foundations for mobility within Europe, involving education and training institutions. The project was led by the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR), an organization that brings together some 150 regional authorities. The main drivers of the project – the French region of Bretagne and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – emphasized the importance of maritime professions at the regional level. Jochen Schulte praised the project’s character as an incubator for projects covering a variety of topics and geographical areas, all focused on promoting mobility and the key role given to regional authorities, while at the same time developing partnerships with other professional and academic stakeholders from the sector. Jochen Schulte underlined the activities of the BSPC in this respect, not least against the background of the current BSPC Work Programme. The Maritime Rapporteur recapitulated the lessons-learned from the project. 1) The importance of exchange programs: The first Vasco da Gama Summer School was held on 24-29 August 2015. It was organized jointly by the CPMR and Kalmar Maritime Academy. Participants from the Atlantic, Baltic, Black Sea and North Sea benefited from briefings and discussion time with high-level speakers on the issues of maritime safety and security, integration of the human element and cultural influences in these areas, and greening of maritime transport. A series of case studies and exercises gave an operational dimension to the training course. All parties involved had agreed that this first Summer School had been a great success and that it is worth repeating in the future. It is the stated goal of the organizers that the lessons learned from this first edition will help to develop the content of future Vasco da Gama Summer Schools. This important milestone should be further developed. 2) The contribution to the networking of the stakeholders: For instance, cadets from the involved academies can participate in experimental pilot training sessions that will be organized in 2 different maritime basins. A high-quality cross-national master program in Sustainable Shipping at an advanced level has been developed, which ran from January to June 2015, with the participation of close to 50 people: students and seafarers from Sweden, France and Germany. Various professionals from across the shipping supply chain have been brought together in the development of a course module. The project has thus contributed to a network of partners, which extends from the Black Sea over other sea basins all the way to the Baltic Sea, and which constitutes the nucleus for exchange and cooperation in this region. 3) The necessity of the input from the involved regions: The regions are key actors in the improvement of the attractiveness and internalization of maritime professions, as they are responsible for education and training, as they are drivers of regional economies and economic sectors, and as they are the ones best equipped with knowledge about the local and regional situations and needs. The difficulty – and the objective of this project – lies in combining these strengths and insights in a mutually beneficial manner. “Continue the Vasco da Cama” label Jochen Schulte concluded by urging stakeholders to continue and build upon the “Vasco da Gama” label even after its formal conclusion. The project could be continued in the framework of the separate sea basins, for instance with support from Interreg. GD MARE distinguishes its Blue Growth initiative among others based on sea basins, and the education and training in maritime professions should be an integral part of any growth strategy. The regions could offer their know-how to the Commission and its GDs in so far as personnel and quality needs are concerned, for instance in the areas of sea traffic or the “Blue Economy”. To do so, CPMR should mind the EU context. It must turn to respective priorities and initiatives to complete them, to develop technical synergies with them and, to participate in them as appropriate. Special attention should be paid to the initiatives such as the Blue Careers Initiative. The CPMR is already working on sectors such as maritime transport, port logistics, and shipbuilding as part of discussions on the implementation of technical partnerships that should ensure the design and development of European cooperation projects. The regions play an equally important role in this regard. A concept catalogue should be developed based on the experiences gained so far and together with the CPMR General Secretariat interregional projects should be designed and implemented by the regions.

Under the Chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Jānis Vucāns, the BSPC Standing Committee gathered at the European Parliament in Brussels to prepare its upcoming Silver Jubilee edition in Riga and to exchange with EU and CBSS representatives. The Standing Committee was greeted by the Standing Committee member and Chair of the EP Delegation for relations with Switzerland and Norway and to the EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee and the European Economic Area Joint Parliamentary Committee, Mr Jørn Dohrmann, and EP Vice President Anneli Jäätteenmäki, who is also responsible for Baltic, Nordic and Arctic Affairs. The Vice President underlined that the EP regards the EUSBSR and the Northern Dimension as focal points for regional cooperation in the BSR and in Northern Europe, to which all partners should commit, and encouraged the BSPC Standing Committee to explore possibilities for addressing still existing challenges with regard to cooperation in the region, and to raise awareness on successful cooperation. Ms Maria Luisa Cabral from the European Commission’s DG Employment then briefed the Standing Committee on the main topic of the Latvian BSPC Presidency’s Work Programme, namely education & labour mobility. She highlighted the economic benefits of more people being ready to work in other Member States, while also acknowledging its downsides. Consequently, the Commission would be working on a deeper and fairer internal market, while ensuring growth and jobs through structural reforms and the implementation of an ambitious investment plan. The Chair of the CBSS’s Committee of Senior Officials, Ambassador Michał Czyż, then briefed the Standing Committee on new developments and activities within the CBSS’s three long-term priorities “Sustainability”, “Regional Identity”, and “Safety”. Moreover, the CBSS would continue efforts on making all regional cooperation formats work well together. The future CBSS mission should be recalibrated as follows: closer collaboration with the EU on BSR development including the context of EU–Russia relations, closer CBSS cooperation with its observer states, strategic partners and neighbouring regions, paving the way for creating a single Baltic cooperation space through improved regional synergy and cohesion. Against the background of ongoing discussions within the BSPC regarding Belarus, the Standing Committee was then briefed by Mr Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, Chair of the EPO Delegation for Relations with Belarus, and Mr Dirk Schübel, European External Action Service (EEAS), on Belarus and the Eastern Partnership after the Presidential election in Belarus. The Standing Committee is currently engaged in deliberations over its stance concerning Belarus. The BSPC President will soon inform the Belarusian side about the outcomes of the Brussels meeting. Additionally, the parliamentarians prepared the 25 th edition of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, which is to take place in Riga on 28-30 August 2016. An exchange of opinions and experiences on the refugee crisis in Europe was also on the agenda.

The BSPC Secretary Level gathered at the German Bundestag on 8 January to prepare the agenda and meeting of the BSPC Standing Committee on 28 January at the European Parliament in Brussels. The meeting was welcomed by the longstanding member of the BSPC Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, Mr Franz Thönnes. Mr Thönnes highlighted in his introductory words that the European countries and the states around the Baltic Sea were all confronted with a number of challenges, including the continued inflow of refugees, risks of terrorism and the fostering of the EU’s monetary Union. Nevertheless, too many countries reacted with nationally-oriented answers to these challenges. Mr Thönnes expressed his hopes that the realization would grow that no country on its own could be successful in addressing these challenges. More common decisions in Europe were required. The same would be true for the countries in the Baltic Sea Region. Hence he welcomed the preparations in Berlin for the upcoming meeting of the BSPC Standing Committee in Europe’s capital. Besides the refugee crisis, important issues on the agenda would be the follow-up of the resolution of Rostock, the further determination of a process of contacts with the House of Representatives of Belarus, the further agenda of the BSPC’s new Working Group on Sustainable Tourism, and an exchange of opinions with high-ranking European representatives and decision-makers.