Following a decision that the Heads of Government of the States represented in the CBSS should meet on an informal basis, the first of these meetings was held in May 1996 in Visby, Sweden. The second was held in January 1998 in Riga, Latvia, during the Danish presidency. The third summit took place in Kolding, Denmark, on 12-13 April 2000. The 4th Baltic Sea States Summit meeting is scheduled to take place in St.Petersburg, Russia, in June 2002.

The final documents from these meetings – Chairman’s Conclusions – give overall political guidance to the co-operation. The CBSS is responsible for the follow-up on the summit meetings.