MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia should join the efforts of the European Union and agree that the Baltic Sea needs to be given the status of "a very sensitive marine zone," Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said on Tuesday in a report at the Diplomatic Academy of the RIA Novosti Foreign Ministry.
Russia and Sweden are mutually interested in ensuring navigation on the Baltic, she said.
She also recalled that last year eight coastal Baltic states (members of or states entering into the European Union) proposed applying to the International Maritime Organization for the entire Baltic Sea to be recognized as "a specially sensitive marine zone."
Russia should join their efforts and speed up the rate of retiring single-hull tankers to protect our common sea, the Swedish foreign minister emphasized.
