BSR Policy Briefing 6/2019

Germany has contributed to the development of the Baltic Sea region (BSR) and regional cooperation by, for example, initiating the launch of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in 1992 together with Denmark. Still, Germany appeared as a rather reluctant but at least pragmatic partner in regional cooperation across the Baltic Sea for most of the time. Economically, Germany is deeply integrated in the region and is a prominent trading partner for most of the countries of the BSR but politically it has been punching below its weight. While for Germany’s federal level the Baltic Sea region has been only one of many foreign policy areas, the region has been and still is much more relevant for the German states (Bundesländer) with a Baltic Sea coastline. They engage more vividly in regional cooperation within the range of their possibilities.

To some extent, Germany’s role in the region has changed throughout the years in particularly in the realm of security. Until 2014, the country was reluctant to play a more pronounced role in the region in security terms. Its main intention was to involve Russia in regional cooperation on equal terms. However, its stance towards Russia has become more critical and distanced since the start of the crisis around Ukraine and Crimea in 2014. Since then, Germany has become more visible as a supportive security actor and is more perceived as such by the other countries of the region. To retain this perception, Germany needs a coherent long-term national strategy for the Baltic Sea region both in political as well as security terms.