II. UBC Today

24TH MEETING OF THE UBC EXECUTIVE BOARD 

The 24th meeting of the Executive Board of the Union of the Baltic Cities was held on the 28 June 1999 in the City of Tartu, Estonia, upon the invitation of Mr Andrus Ansip, Mayor of Tartu. 

General Conference in Stockholm 
Mr Dag Larsson, Stockholm City Councillor, once again warmly invited all member cities to participate in the Fifth General Conference of the Union of the Baltic Cities to be held in Stockholm, on 24-25 September 1999. Mr Anders Kylberg, Project Manager, presented the final programme of the conference. The first day of the conference will be devoted to the conference head theme: "European Union Enlargement in the Baltic Sea Region - the role of Cities, Regions and States". The second day -the General Assembly -will deal with internal UBC issues such as elections, reports, budget etc. The Board encouraged all member cities to send delegations to the General Conference in Stockholm. 
The Secretary General Mr Pawel Zaboklicki presented the proposals of the UBC budget and membership fees for the period 2000-2001. The Board decided to forward the proposals to the General Conference. 
The Board proposed the candidates to the UBC Presidium in the next two-year period ie. Mr Anders Engstrom, Kalmar, for the President; Mr Eugenijus Gentvilas, Klaipeda, and a representative of Turku, for Vice-Presidents. The President reminded the Board members to contact member cities in their countries and select the candidate cities to the Executive Board for the next two-year period. The Board recommended the General Conference to hold its sixth meeting in 2001 in Rostock. 

UBC major documents 
The Board completed its extensive work on the major UBC documents ie. the Statute, the Strategy and the 

Internal Regulations. The Statute and the Strategy will be forwarded to the General Conference for the adoption.

New Member Cities 
The Secretary General Pawel Zaboklicki informed about new applications for UBC membership sent by the cities of: Chojnice and Reda (Poland), Landskrona (Sweden), Sestroretsk (Russia). The Board decided to accept mentioned cities as members of the Union of the Baltic Cities. 

UBC and Environment 
Mr Risto Veivo, UBC Environmental Coordinator, Turku, introduced the concept of Best Environmental Practise in Baltic Cities Award. The award will be granted during the General Conference in Stockholm, in the City Hall where the Nobel Prize dinners are held. The Board endorsed the proposal and encouraged all cities active in the field of environment to apply for the award. 
Mr Mikko Jokinen, co-Chairman of the UBC Commission on Environment, Turku, introduced the UBC Local Agenda 21 Action Programme for the coming three 

years 2000-2002, developed by the LA21 Working Group. Our basic commitment, as expressed in the programme, is that the Union of the Baltic Cities, as a major network of cities in the Baltic Sea Region, recognises its responsibility to make our future a sustainable one. The Board will propose the Action Programme to the General Conference in Stockholm. 

Situation in Belarus 
Representatives of Sapieha Foundation (pro-democratic movement) from Belarus Mr Mechaslau Hryb and Mr Hristofor Zhelapov introduced the Board with the situation of cities and regions in Belarus. Guests from Belarus described the present situation as undemocratic and informed that the local and regional authorities are virtually appointed by the government. The Board took note of the report and appealed for democratic reforms in Belarus. 
The next meeting of the Executive Board will be held in Stockholm, on the eve of the V General Conference, 23 September 1999.