During the period until 2020 Russia is going to spend approximately 145 billion roubles for the preservation and restoration of the ecology in the Baltic Sea, reported on 20 May, Thursday, Jurij Trutniov, the RF Minister of Nature.

Talking about the National Russian Programme of measures aimed at the rehabilitation of the Baltic Sea and making it healthier Trutniov noted that the programme will cover the area of over 300 thousand square kilometres within the territories of St Petersburg, Leningradskij, Novgorodskij and Pskovskij regions, part of Karelia and the Vologda region.

As indicated by RIA “Novosti”, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) is a standing international body with its headquarters in Helsinki, and is the governing body of the 1992 Helsinki Convention, adopted for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area. The Commission unites nine countries bordering the Baltic Sea: Russia, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The Helsinki Commission for the Baltic Marine Environment Protection publishes regularly lists of the “hot points” – sources of the strongest pollution in the Baltic Sea. There were 73 such dangerous objects in the list by December 2009, while at the moment of its introduction in 1992 the number of such points amounted to 162.

According to the words of the Minister of Nature the implementation of this programme will allow actually to reach the level of cleaning the inflowing waters by 100%, and to reduce the amount of nitrogen brought to the sea by 11 thousand tons and phosphorus – by 2 thousand tons, also to eliminate the grounds of waste and unorganised storages of outdated pesticides.

Participants at the Ministerial Session of the Helsinki Commission, closing on 20 May, and Ecology Ministers of the Baltic States will present their national plans for the protection of the Baltic Sea, and will also adopt a Declaration summarising the outcomes of previous years and discuss the Report on the Baltic Sea status prepared by scientific researchers. Moreover, a ceremony of transferring the Chairmanship from Russia to the successor of Sweden will take place.

Material has been prepared by the Centre of Geopolitical Studies with reference to the article from «Izvestia» of 20 05 2010

For effective complex defence of Latvia, the establishment of a permanent division of the National Armed Forces has started in Latgale, reported the official website of the Ministry of Defence.

On 13 January a concert "Together to the victory" was held in Lithuania, where the audience decided to support Ukraine's defence and donated 110 thousand Euros.

Alexander Lukashenko on 9 January signed a decree № 8 "On the establishment of visa-free entry and exit of foreign nationals." The document establishes visa-free entry to Belarus for a period not exceeding 5 days at the entrance through the checkpoint "National Airport Minsk" for citizens of 80 countries, - reported the press service of the President of Belarus.