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On 25 June 1992, the Heads of State and Government of eleven countries signed in Istanbul the Summit Declaration and the 'Bosporus Statement' giving birth to the 'Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)'. It came into existence as a unique and promising model of multilateral political and economic initiative aimed at fostering interaction and harmony among the Member States, as well as to ensure peace, stability and prosperity encouraging friendly and good-neighbourly relations in the Black Sea region.
The BSEC Headquarters - the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS) - was established in March 1994 in Istanbul.
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 and Montenegro in April 2004, the Organization’s Member States increased to twelve.
The BSEC is also related to the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, an international financial institution based in Thessaloniki.

Contents

Membership

See also

External link

Membership

'Founding members' are:

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'Later members:'

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'Applicant states:'

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1 Cyprus and Montenegro applied to join, but were denied for now due to rivalry between Greece and Turkey, who vetoed Montenegro and Cyprus respectively.[1]

As seen above, membership has not been restricted to countries which have access to the Black Sea: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Moldova, and Serbia do ''not'' have a coastline on the Black Sea.
'Observer nations' are the following:

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'Later observers:'

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'Observer organizations' are the:

★ International Black Sea Club

★ Energy Charter Secretariat

★ Black Sea Commission

★ European Commission
The chairmanship is currently held by Turkey (May 2007 - January 2008).

See also

★ Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe (SP for SEE)

★ Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP)

★ Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)

★ Central European Initiative (CEI)

★ Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI)

★ Black Sea Forum (BSF)

★ Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB)

External link

★ BSEC website