Resolution 31. BSPC 2022

114 06 2022, 1 2.00Conference ResolutionAdopted by the 31st Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC)The participants, elected representatives from theParliament of DenmarkParliament of EstoniaParliament of FinlandParliament of the Federal Republic of GermanyParliament of IcelandParliament of LatviaParliament of LithuaniaParliament of NorwayParliament of PolandParliament of SwedenParliament of ÅlandParliament of the Hanseatic City of BremenParliament of the Free and Hanseati c City of HamburgParliament of Mecklenburg -VorpommernParliament of Schleswig -HolsteinBaltic AssemblyEuropean ParliamentNordic Council,assembling in Stockholm on 14 June 2022- reiterate in the strongest possible terms our condemnation of the completelyunjustified, unprovoked and full -scale brutal military attack and invasion by theRussian Federation against the sovereignty, independence and people of Ukraineas expressed in the statement of the BSPC Presidents and Heads of Delegations;condemning in the strongest possible way Belarus’ participation in the Russianaggression;- state that day by day, the cruel and inhuman war of aggression against Ukraineis posing an ever more dangerous threat to peace, stability and democracy acrossEurope and the world and underline that Ukrainian citizens are defending theirrights and freedom and the common values that Europe stands for ;2 - take note with pain that every day innocent people are being killed in a despicablemanner, many are being forcibly deported and others are being forced to flee theirhomeland in fear for the lives of their famili es, friends and other fellow citizens ;- restate that t hese attacks are contrary to both international law and Europeansecurity ; they violate the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nationsand the basi c principles of International and Humanitarian Law ;- strongly condemn any violation of international law and human rights ;- support the continuation of a decisive and united response of our countries in theform of the toughest possible restrictive measures against the Russian Federationand its representatives, including embargos on fossil fuels, in order to preventfurther es calation and aggression ;- expect an immediate establishment of an international commission of inquiry todocument and verify facts, accounts and opinions, and an urgent trial of warcriminals and call on the international community to bring the guilty part ies beforeinternational tribunals;- renew and underline again that democratic values, the rule of law, respect forinternational law , media freedom , a strong civil society and robust NGOs , equalopportunities for all as well as peaceful and close neighbourliness are thefoundation of our cooperation and the fundamental principles of the BSPC ;- declare that only state or supranational parliaments, regional parliaments withlegislative power s, parliamentary bodies and organisations which ensure and fightfor the guarantee of human rights, peace and democracy as fundamental valuesof the Baltic Sea Region and Europe can be actors in and partners of the BSPC ;- consider adherence to and advocacy for compliance with the recognised rules ofinternational law as a sine qua non for participation and cooperation in the BalticSea Parliamentary Conference and its work ;- freeze all parliamentary cooperation with the Russ ian parliaments and Russianobserver institutions within the framework of the BSPC as long as thesefundamental principles and goals are dramatically violated by the unprovoked,illegal and brutal military attack and aggression by the Russian Federation ag ainstsovereign and democratic Ukraine which was initiated by parliamentary decisionsregarding Donetsk and Luhansk ;- confirm the suspension of the Russian parliaments and Russian observerorganisations from the Annual Conference, the meetings of our working bodies,proceedings, work and projects of the BSPC and freeze any joint activities withthem until cooperation under the fundamental principles of international law willonce again become possible ;- stipulate that any amendment to this decision requires* careful consideration by the BSPC Standing Committeeas to whether there is a prospect of taking account of theprinciples of international law and the principles of the BSPC,* a recommendation of the Standing Committee to the Annual Conference and* a final decision by the Annual Conference ;- reaffirm our strong wish and intention to continue the crucial and successful workof the BSPC for the benefit of the entire Baltic Sea Region ;- warmly welcome Finland’s and Sweden’s decisions to apply for NATO membership;3- point out once more that close and intensive people -to-people contacts on alllevels – parliaments, governments and civil society – are the backbone for peace,prosperity and protection of the environment in the Region ;- highlight again that the exchange among and the inclusi on of the youth and youngpeople are the prerequisite for guaranteeing and securing these foundations of theBaltic Sea Region for future generations as well ;- wish to establish the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Youth Forum further in closecooperation with the CBSS and the Baltic Sea Youth Platform regularly as back-to-back event to its annual conferences to include the concerns of the younggeneration in the work of the BSP C;- welcome the results and support the goals of the CBSS Ministerial Meeting on25 May 2022;call on the Governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and the EU,Regarding Cooperation in the Region to1. adopt and initiate all necessary measures ensuring the security of our peoplesand the defence of our values and democracies;2. continue with all efforts supporting Ukraine in defence of their people anddemocratic values to the maximum extent possible ;3. intensify even more all efforts - particularly in these times of war - to act andreact unified in strengthening safety, security , peace and regional identity basedon democracy, human rights, the rule of law, peaceful neighbourliness andinternational law;4. work together closely, decisively and unitedly in light of the most serious securitycrisis in the region in years, in order to strengthen the cooperation of ourdemocratic nations in the Baltic Sea Region and to counter the threats toEuropean resilience and s ecurity architecture caused by Russia’s policy andactions;5. in all currently necessary measures in the energy policies of our countries takenecessary decisions in such a way that all measures continue to be directedtowards focussing on energy security, sustainability in its smart and inclusiveeconomic growth, development and innovation and to reach a good ecologicalstatus of the Baltic Sea and a sound and sustainable status for the environmentof the Baltic Sea Region ;6. tackle current and future challe nges and crises through increased unified and jointaction s, and reject the notion of “might makes right” in accordance withinternational law ;7. even more intensify cooperation in education, science, research and culture alsounder the aspect of promoting elements of a common identity by shared values ;8. place particular emphasis on intensifying youth and youth workers exchanges,with the aim to reach out and mobilize young people to address issues that aremost relevant to them, particularly in these difficult times;49. extend sustainable tourism , and enable more climate -friendly trave l based onprogrammes which promote this trend;10. reconsider as a strong sign of unity particularly in times of war and crisis duringthe upcoming years a resumption of the Baltic Sea States Summits of our headsof governments ;Regarding Democracy , human rights and freedom of expression to :11. continue implementing with particular vigour the calls for action and demandscontained in the 30th BSPC Resolution in regard to democracy, human rights andfreedom of expression, particularly in times of war and crisis;12. consistently and resolutely counter the growing threat to the democraticcommunity posed by the disinformation campaigns as well as w ar propagandainitiated by the Russian government and other state and non -state actors;13. acknowledge the importance of freedom of press for democracy and democraticdevelopment;14. specifically counteract any deterioration of working conditions in media and freereporting; in countries where problems have evolved, to initiate and promotetargeted protective measures for the work of the media, including education andtraining for jour nalists, to secure safe working conditions for the media;15. consider different ways of promoting democracy -building efforts in Russia and inother countries, for example by supporting civil society in exile;16. strengthen particularly in times of war and cris is efforts to increase confidence indemocratic structures and values, promote tolerance and open -mindedness,freedom of the media and expression, and robust NGOs as cornerstones ofdemocracies in the Baltic Sea Region ;17. protect the rights and ensure the s afety of refugees, ethnic minorities, LGBTQpeople, women, children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups who areparticularly at risk in times of war and threatened by intolerant attitudes;18. defend sexual and reproductive autonomy and respect the right to reproductivehealth ;Regarding climate change mitigation, preserving biodiversity and adapting toclimate change to:19. support the updated Baltic Sea Action Plan and its associated action documentsagreed by the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting on 20 October 2021 under the currentGerman chairmanship and to ensure a more quickly and consistentimplementation of the agreed objectives tha n before in all countries of the BalticSea Region in order to achieve a good ecological status of the Baltic Sea by theend of the decade; regular monitoring of the implementation is essential tosupport the process;5 20. derive and implement further measures from the policy -relevant suggestions forvarious policy areas in the ‘HELCOM 2021 Climate Change in the Baltic Sea FactSheet’ that will enable an even faster and more extensive reduction of climate -relevant emissions to achieve the targeted climate neutrality as early as possible;21. recognise that anthropogenic activities such as agriculture and industrializationin the Baltic Sea catchment area have caused large increases in inputs of nitrogenand phosphorus over the past 150 years and underline the importance ofcontinuing the work on reducing outlets of nitrogen and phosphorous into theBaltic Sea, reminding that an increased water temperature also will increase theeffects of overnutrition;22. intensify all efforts an d cooperate closely in several fields at the same time toobtain the chance of limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre -industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °Cabove pre -industrial levels through the ra pid, comprehensive expansion ofrenewable energies and their technologies , by the reduction of emissions, lessenergy use, increased energy efficiency at the same time as strengthening andincreasing natural sinks for CO 2 and research and development of in novative andsustainable technologies;23. particularly in those countries that are still more dependent on domestic andimported fossil energy sources and uranium imports, push forward the use of zeroand low emission renewable energies from domestic sources and in the long -termthose imported from democratic and reliable partner countries in combinationwith innovative applications of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives on the basisof renewable energies in industry and commerce as well as in the heatin g andmobility sector, in order to achieve their own, affordable, more independent andresilient energy security and energy sovereignty and at the same time tocontribute to the achievement of the climate goals;24. cooperate with countries that are most depe ndent on fossil fuels and uraniumimports from Russia in their efforts to switch to more reliable and environmentallyfriendly energy sources;25. widely deploy the extensive existing low -cost and efficient renewable energygeneration technologies, and effect ively and significantly boost even moreintensive research as well as the introduction and deployment of innovative greensolutions, particularly in green hydrogen technologies, and develop as fast aspossible hydrogen strategies and road maps to complemen t the Europeanhydrogen strategy and the new green deal and bring by joint efforts and closecooperation the Baltic Sea Region in a pole position in green transition;26. concerning sea-dumped munitions, also in the current times of war continueunabated in c lose cooperation with HELCOM and CBSS to strengthen effortsexploring, identifying, recovering and neutralising explosive ordnance in the BalticSea with concrete measures through multinational cooperation according to the28th, 29th and 30th BSPC Resolutions as well as the interim and final BSPCrapporteur’s reports on sea -dumped munitions and establish the Baltic SeaRegion as a global model region for the environmentally sound, rapid andaffordable salvage and decontamination and removal of explosive ordnancedumped in the sea;27. encourage the countries who are responsible for dumped munitions in the BalticSea to start a recovery fund and to lead the recovery effort that would helpachieve a Baltic Sea free from dumped explosive ordnance; we welcome theefforts of the incoming German CBSS presidency to push this issue;6 28. implement methods of nature -friendly farming and actively phase out the use ofsynthetic pesticides and fertilizers by local farmers as well as allocate funds toresearching into less hazardous alternatives, and make sure that the policies arewell connect ed to science;29. intensively integrate rural areas with their broad potential in the production ofrenewable energies, the expansion of grids and storage facilities, and allow themto participate comprehensively in the success, support sustainable innovatio n ingreen energy, reduce the use of non - renewable sources of energy and supportinnovation to make urban and rural life more sustainable by enhancing greentransportation solutions, and make sure that the policies are well connected toscience;30. develop and implement policies and regulations around fishing , shipping andother industries, together with all relevant stakeholders, that harm thebiodiversity in the Baltic Sea and the global climate , that aligns with the needsand challenges from the IPCC repo rt and the internationally binding targets of theParis Agreement;31. promote the building of facilities from recycled materials to develop regulationsregarding the re -use of construction materials, establish plans for the re -use ofmaterials as a requisite for demolition permits as part of the effort of findingsustainable supply lines along the Baltic Sea and to introduce public bail systemsfor plastic bottles in the Baltic Sea Region and furthermore support cascading usein every possible field;32. communicating and developing strategies to implementing a new innovativelifestyle to make the difference by intensive communication about the fact thateach individual making a change for themselves made a difference overall;Regarding demographic challenges in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine;migration, labour market and the social welfare model to33. with the highest appreciation of all decisions and actions taken so far to addressthe refugee flows from Ukraine, in particular in the most affected countries,ensure, through further comprehensive systemic and financial measures andpolicies, that related demographic structural changes and challenges related tohousing, education, child and health protection, labour market and attitudestowards incoming refugees ar e optimally addressed and best possible support fortemporary stayers and inclusion for permanent stayers is guaranteed ;Furthermore, the Conference Decides to34. welcome with gratitude the kind offer by the German Bundestag to host the32nd Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Berlin on 27-29 August 2023.