In the Baltic Sea region in the past year. The EU invited Latvia and Lithuania to join Estonia and Poland, among other candidates, in discussions about eventual membership. The Russian Federation experienced a democratic change in government with the resignation of President Yeltsin and the election of President Putin as his successor. The foreign ministers of nine Central and Eastern European countries, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, confirmed their intention of joining NATO by 2002. And for the first time since 1998, all of the Baltic Sea region states, including Russia, registered positive economic growth.

This conference is attended by some 500 political leaders, business leaders, journalists, and analysts from the Baltic Sea region, the United States, and Europe.

A main focus this year is the Russian economy and its influence on the region. The morning session will focus on security-related issues, the evolution of the U.S. State Department’s Northern European Initiative (NEI), and the growing importance of the EU’s Northern Dimension as Sweden prepares to assume the Union’s presidency January 1, 2001.

The afternoon session will offer perspectives on Russia’s role in the Baltic Sea region as well as on the Putin administration’s economic program, with remarks by key policymakers involved in its design and implementation.