Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Union of the Baltic Cities

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Formation
  
1991

President
  
Per Bødker Andersen

Website
  
http://www.ubc.net/

Headquarters
  
Gdańsk

Honorary President
  
Anders Engström

Union of the Baltic Cities

Main organ
  
General Conference, Executive Board

Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) is a voluntary, proactive network mobilizing the shared potential of over 100 member cities for democratic, economic, social, cultural and environmentally sustainable development of the Baltic Sea region.

Contents

Origins

The Union of the Baltic Cities was founded in Gdańsk, Poland in September 1991, by 32 cities, with the aim of developing cooperation and exchange between its member cities. Inspired in part by the historic example of the Hanseatic League and supported by the European Union's Interreg programs to stimulate regional cooperation within the EU, it was one of the first formal institutions established to bolster the Baltic as a cohesive region within Europe. The city of Kalmar in Sweden took the initiative in founding the organization, but Gdańsk was chosen as the organization's headquarters to emphasize the desire to break down historic barriers between Western and Eastern Europe. Anders Engström, who was in office from 1999 to 2001, was the first President of the UBC. Since 2001 the office has been held by Per Bødker Andersen.

Aims

The Union states its aims are to:

  • Promote, develop and strengthen cooperation and exchange of experience among the cities in the Baltic Sea Region,
  • Advocate for common interests of the local authorities in the region,
  • Act on behalf of the cities and local authorities in common matters towards regional, national, European and international bodies,
  • Strive to achieve sustainable development and optimal economic and social development in the Baltic Sea Region with full respect to European principles of local and regional self-governance and subsidiarity.
  • Contribute to joint Baltic identity, cohesion and common understanding in the region.

    • Status

    In 2014 the Union comprised over 100 cities from ten countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

    References

    Union of the Baltic Cities Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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