Russia has been expelled from the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) due to aggression against Ukraine, the Latvian Foreign Ministry told BNS.

The CBSS was established in 1992 as a comprehensive forum for cooperation and harmonization of views among the countries of the Baltic Sea region. The founding decision, the Copenhagen Declaration, says that cooperation is carried out in accordance with the UN Charter, as well as the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Charter and other documents of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

At the same time, the CBSS temporarily suspends the participation of Belarus in the status of an CBSS observer.