The European Commission has singled out the Baltic Sea region to become a model of regional cooperation, with 50 billion euro to be allocated in the next few years to boost the growth of EU members bordering the Baltic Sea - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

 

Krystyna Kolosowska reports 

 

Poland is to head a flagship project of the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. It will assess the urgency of cleansing the Baltic from chemical weapons lying on its bed, commissioner for regional policy Danuta Huebner said. Poland offered to compile detailed maps and analyze the situation, specifying what chemical weapons and toxic shipwrecks are to be found on the sea bed.

 

Four key challenges have been identified as requiring urgent attention. They are: to create a sustainable environment, enhance the region’s prosperity, increase accessibility and attractiveness and to ensure safety and security in the region. By 2013, for example, Rail Baltica will link Warsaw with Tallin, greatly shortening the journey which now takes 36 hours.

 

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