Latvia Estonia and Lithuania, and Nordic-Baltic co-operation with the Nordic countries. The Baltic Council is the joint forum of the interparliamentary Baltic Assembly (BA) and the intergovernmental Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM). Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB-8) is the joint co-operation of the governments of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. Nordic-Baltic Six (NB-6), comprising Nordic-Baltic countries that are European Union member states, is a framework for meetings on EU-related issues. Interparliamentary co-operation between the Baltic Assembly and Nordic Council was signed in 1992 and since 2006 annual meetings are held as well as regular meetings on other levels. Joint
Human rights in Estonia used every international forum where the claims of the violations of human rights in Estonia have been presented. The United Nations Development Programme's forum Development and Transition has discussed the situation of Estonia and Latvia in 2005. James Hughes, a US sociologist from the Trinity College, claimed Latvia and Estonia are both states "captured by the titular ethnic groups", employing a "sophisticated and extensive policy regime of discrimination" against their respective Russophone populations. He names three "pillars" of discrimination: refusal of citizenship, language usage, and participation rights, and claims discrimination is constrained by the "economic dependence on Russophone labour". Nils