Formation | 25 June 1992 |
---|---|
Type | Economic cooperation organization |
Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey |
Location | |
Membership | 13 member countries 14 observer countries 5 sectoral dialogue partner countries |
Secretary General | Lazăr Comănescu |
Website |
The Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is a regional international organization focusing on multilateral political and economic initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation, peace, stability and prosperity in the Black Sea region. It traces its origin to 25 June 1992, when Turkish President Turgut Özal and leaders of ten other countries gathered in Istanbul and signed the Summit Declaration and the "Bosphorus Statement". BSEC Headquarters – the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS) – was established in March 1994, also in Istanbul. [1]
With the entry into force of its Charter on 1 May 1999, BSEC acquired international legal identity and was transformed into a full-fledged regional economic organization: Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. With the accession of Serbia (then Serbia and Montenegro) in April 2004, the Organization’s Member States increased to twelve. [1] North Macedonia's accession in 2020 increased the organization's membership to thirteen.
An important aspect of the activities of BSEC is the development of SME and entrepreneurship in the member countries. Concerning these issues, a series of workshops have been organized in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation and ERENET. [2]
Arms | Flag | Name | Area (km2) | Population | Population density (per km2) | Capital | Name(s) in official language(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albania | 28,748 | 2,876,591 | 98.5 | Tirana | Shqipëria | ||
Armenia | 29,743 | 3,000,756 | 101.5 | Yerevan | Հայաստան (Hayastan) | ||
Azerbaijan | 86,600 | 9,911,646 | 113 | Baku | Azǝrbaycan | ||
Bulgaria | 110,910 | 7,101,859 | 64.9 | Sofia | България (Bǎlgariya) | ||
Georgia | 69,700 | 3,718,200 | 53.5 | Tbilisi | საქართველო (Sakartvelo) | ||
Greece | 131,957 | 10,768,477 | 82 | Athens | Ελλάδα (Elláda) | ||
Moldova | 33,846 | 3,434,547 | 101.5 | Chișinău | Moldova | ||
Romania | 238,397 | 19,638,000 | 84.4 | Bucharest | România | ||
Russia | 17,098,246 | 144,526,636 | 8.4 | Moscow | Россия (Rossiya) | ||
Turkey | 783,356 | 83,614,362 [3] | 106.7 | Ankara | Türkiye | ||
Ukraine | 603,628 | 33,365,000 | 73.8 | Kyiv | Україна (Ukraina) |
Arms | Flag | Name | Area (km2) | Population | Population density (per km2) | Capital | Name(s) in official language(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Macedonia | 25,713 | 1,836,713 | 83 | Skopje | Северна Македонија (Severna Makedonija) | ||
Serbia | 88,361 | 8,669,541 | 98.1 | Belgrade | Србија (Srbija) |
As seen above, membership has not been restricted to countries which have access to the Black Sea: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, North Macedonia, Moldova, and Serbia do not have coastlines on the Black Sea, though the last two are connected through the Danube river corridor and Greece through the two sea straits.
North Macedonia's application was vetoed by Greece after Turkey vetoed the previous application of the Republic of Cyprus, prompting Greece to cease to approve future applications from any country. [4] However, North Macedonia was admitted into the bloc on 9 November 2020. [5]
Related bodies of BSEC carry out their functions due respect to the principles of BSEC defined in the Summit Declaration of 25 June 1992 and in the Charter. They have their own budget. [9]
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation based in Istanbul, is the inter-parliamentary consultative institution of the organization formed based on the Declaration on the Establishment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation on February 26, 1993 by 9 founding states. Greece joined PABSEC in 1995, Bulgaria joined in 1997, and Serbia (former Serbia and Montenegro) joined in 2004. [11]
Representatives of Parliaments of member countries pursue objectives which are stated in the preamble of the PABSEC Rules and Procedures: insure the understanding and adoption of the ideas and objectives of BSEC; provide a legal basis for social, economic, cultural, commercial and political cooperation among the member states; provide support to the national parliaments to reinforce the parliamentary democracy; pass the legislation required for the implementation of the decisions adopted by the Heads of States or by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. [11]
Main bodies of PABSEC are General Assembly, Standing Committee, the Bureau, Committees, the President, the Secretary General, and the International Secretariat.The Assembly is composed of 76 members. English, French, Russian and Turkish are the working languages of PABSEC. [11]
The President of PABSEC is Archil Talakvadze from Georgia, the Vice-President is Anush Beghloyan from Armenia. [12]
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization Business Council was formed in 1992 as an international, non-governmental and non-profit organization to strengthen the improvement of the business environment within Black Sea region. Business Council represents the business communities of member states. The International Secretariat of Business Council is based in Istanbul. [13]
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution that was formed 24 January 1997. [14] It supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing trade and project financing, guarantees, and equity for development projects supporting both public and private enterprises in its member countries. Objectives of the bank include promoting regional trade links, cross country projects, foreign direct investment, supporting activities that contribute to sustainable development, with an emphasis on the generation of employment in the member countries, ensuring that each operation is economically and financially sound and contributes to the development of a market orientation. [15] The organization has an authorized capital of $1.325 billion. [16] The bank's headquarters are located in Thessaloniki, Greece.
BSTDB is governed by the Agreement Establishing Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, a United Nations registered treaty. [14] Unlike the International Monetary Fund and others, the BSTDB does not attach policy conditions by which debtor states can be controlled. [17] The Bank has a long term credit rating of 'A' from Moody's Investors Service and an 'A3' from Standard & Poor's, both with a stable outlook. [18]
The International Center for Black Sea Studies is an independent think tank focused on the wider Black Sea region, which serves as a related body of BSEC at the same time. It was established in 1998. [19]
The BSEC Coordination Center for the Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information was established with the aim to collect statistical and economic information, accomplish secretarial functions, coordinate obtained data and share it with member countries. [20]
Member states are cooperating on different issues within the Working Groups. [21] They are the following:
Working Groups on | Country Coordinator | Term |
---|---|---|
Agriculture and Agro-Industry | Turkey | 1 July 2023 - 30 June 2025 [22] |
Banking and Finance | Russia | 1 January 2020 - 31 December 2021 [23] |
Combatting Crime | Romania | 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2020 [24] |
Culture | Armenia | 1 July 2023 - 30 June 2025 [25] |
Customs Matters | pending [26] | |
Education | Russia | 1 January 2020 - 31 December 2021 [27] |
Emergency Assistance | Romania | 1 July 2023 - 30 June 2025 [28] |
Energy | Azerbaijan | 1 July 2023 - 30 June 2025 [29] |
Environmental Protection | Romania | 1 January 2019 - 31 December 2020 [30] |
Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information | pending [31] | |
Healthcare and Pharmaceutics | Romania | 1 July 2018 - 30 June 2020 [32] |
Information and Communication Technologies | Bulgaria | 1 January 2020 - 31 December 2021 [33] |
Institutional Renewal and Good Governance | Azerbaijan | 1 July 2023 - 30 June 2025 [34] |
Science and Technology | Turkey | 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024 [35] |
SMEs | Bulgaria | 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2025 [36] |
Tourism | Azerbaijan | 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2024 [37] |
Trade and Economic Development | Turkey | 1 July 2018 - 30 June 2020 [38] |
Transport | Ukraine | 1 January 2023 - 31 December 2024 [39] |
The functions of Working Groups, of which country coordinators have not been appointed yet, are performed temporarily by the PERMIS. [40] [31] [41]
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of the region, due to political, economic, historical, cultural, and geographical considerations.
The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, counting 18 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989. The body was developed on the basis of earlier experiences with The Alps-Adriatic Working Group. The CEI headquarters have been in Trieste, Italy, since 1996.
The Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe was an institution aimed at strengthening peace, democracy, human rights and economy in the countries of South Eastern Europe from 1999 to 2008. It was replaced by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in February 2008. The RCC replaced it because it is more "regionally owned" than the Stability Pact, which was driven more by outside partners such as the EU.
The Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) is a multilateral regional initiative that has been initiated by the European Union, the United States of America and the countries of Southeast Europe within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as a support to the implementation of the Dayton Accords in December 1996 at the inaugural session at Geneva on the basis of Final Points of Common EU-USA Understanding.
The economy of Montenegro is currently in a process of transition, as it navigates the impacts of the Yugoslav Wars, the decline of industry following the dissolution of the Yugoslavia, and economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations. Montenegro joined the World Trade Organization on 29 April 2012. Montenegro joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on 5 June 2017.
The South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was launched on Bulgaria's initiative in 1996. At the Bulgaria-chaired meeting in Sofia, the Southeast Europe (SEE) countries laid the foundations for regional co-operation for the purposes of creating an atmosphere of trust, good neighbourly relations and stability.
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international development finance institution serving the eleven member founding countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, a regional economic organization. It supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, guarantees, and equity for development projects and trade transactions. BSTDB supports both public and private enterprises in member countries and does not attach political conditionality to its financing.
Relations between Albania and Serbia have been complex and largely unfriendly due to a number of historical and political events.
The International Centre for Black Sea Studies (Greek: Διεθνές Κέντρο Μελετών Ευξείνου Πόντου, English Acronym: ICBSS, Greek Acronym: ΔΙ.ΚΕ.Μ.Ε.Π.) is a research centre based in Athens, Greece, focused on promoting multilateral cooperation among the countries in the Black Sea region.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) is an international organization established in 2005 by the national parliaments of the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is the legal successor of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean (CSCM), launched in the early 1990s.
The Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, or I.A.O., is a transnational, inter-parliamentary institution that in 1994 was originally established as the European Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (EIAO).
The European Union's scientific collaboration beyond the bloc describes the European Union's frameworks for bilateral cooperation and specific projects in science and technology, with countries and regional blocs situated beyond the European Union.
The relationship between Azerbaijan and Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation dates back to 1992 when Azerbaijan signed Istanbul Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Statement.
The TURKPA in full, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States, is an international organization comprising some of the Turkic countries. It was founded on 21 November 2008 in Istanbul. The General Secretariat is in Baku, Azerbaijan. The member countries are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. Hungary and Northern Cyprus are observers.
This table lists the regional organisations each country is a member of.
The Permanent Mission of Armenia to BSEC is the diplomatic mission of Armenia to the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). It is based in Istanbul, Turkey.
Armenia–BSEC relations began when Armenia joined the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) on 25 June 1992 as one of the eleven founding members of the economic organization.
With the accession of Serbia and Montenegro in April 2004, the Organization's Member States increased to twelve.
In retaliation to Turkey's move to veto the application filed by the Greek Cypriot Administration, Greece opposed all BSEC membership applications in protest, including Montenegro's.
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