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Friday, 29.03.2024, 06:30
U.S. engagement in the Baltic Region
U.S. engagement with Allies and partners surrounding the
Baltic Sea – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and
Sweden – is grounded in a series of bilateral and multilateral relationships
that support and complement one another. Trade, investment, and cooperative
innovation flourish in the region. In 2015, total trade between the United
States and these countries was over $215 bln. Nearly every major U.S.
company has a presence in the region, and for many it is a key market. Mergers,
like Nokia’s acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, create even closer integration. The
total stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in the area at the end of 2015 exceeded
$160 bln, while investment from these countries in the United States
reached almost $400 bln and accounted for over 935,000 jobs.
U.S. and Baltic region scientific researchers and
universities are engaged in significant exchanges and joint research. In
Finland alone, over 200 U.S. government scientists and researchers attended conferences,
presented lectures, or collaborated on research during 2016, and this does not
include the even greater numbers from private research institutions. U.S.
embassies and the regional Environment, Science, Technology and Health Hub in
Copenhagen, as well as U.S. departments and agencies such as the Department of
Energy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, and national laboratories all contribute to
these exchanges.
Shared concern for the Baltic environment creates
opportunities for collaboration between U.S. and regional scientists. A prime example
was the workshop hosted at the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki in May 2016 with the
John Nurminen Foundation on protecting the Baltic Sea, including the NutriTrade
project to address nutrient pollution.
Activities like this at U.S. embassies around the region
help forge partnerships for local NGOs and experts with their U.S.
counterparts.
Energy security is also increasingly important, so the
United States continues to work with Baltic partners to diversify fuels, sources,
and routes to minimize the risk of depending on one large supplier.
Beyond the scientific community, other academic exchanges are
an important area of U.S.-Baltic connection. In 2015, almost 18,000 U.S.
students studied in the eight Baltic region nations. The U.S. government
awarded 298 Fulbright grants to U.S. educators, scholars, and researchers to
work in theregion during the 2016-17 academic year. Other private programs and
exchanges multiply that number dramatically, not to mention the thousands of
high school and university students from the region who study in the United
States each year. Of all the relationships between Americans and people from
the Baltic region, none are more enduring than those formed through these
exchanges.
Mindful that promoting regional peace and security
facilitates and enables this multi-faceted engagement, the United States
concluded defense cooperation agreements with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania earlier
this year, and signed defense cooperation statements of intent with Finland and
Sweden in 2016. At the February 2017 Munich Security Conference, Vice President
Pence met with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and assured
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that “in the wake of Russian efforts to
redraw international borders by force, the United States will continue its
leadership role in the Enhanced Forward Presence Initiative and other critical
joint actions.” Even beyond the region, these nations surrounding the Baltic
Sea are some of our closest partners in promoting shared values and addressing
global challenges.
From peacekeeping, supporting the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and countering ISIS, to promoting global
health and development, we know we can count on this group of friends. For all
of these reasons, the United States is, and will remain, deeply engaged in the
Baltic region.