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Defence representatives from Nordic countries have met to discuss the current security situation and sign a Vision 2030 defence cooperation agreement.
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The defence ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, Iceland’s foreign minister, and representatives of the governments of the Faroe Islands and Greenland met at a Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) ministerial meeting late last month on 29 and 30 April.
Representatives discussed the security situation in the neighbourhood, including the Arctic and North Atlantic regions, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and NATO.
“The Nordic countries are united in the assessment that Russia will remain a threat to European and global security for the foreseeable future,” according to a published joint statement.
“We are equally united in the understanding of the need for collective actions to counter this threat. For the first time in modern history, with the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, our countries have chosen the same path for our security policy.”
The defence and security developments of recent years have been the focus of Nordic defence cooperation, according to the group.
During Sweden’s term as chair of NORDEFCO in 2023, new political and military objectives were formulated to enhance cooperation within the Nordic region and in relation to NATO. On 30 April, the Nordic defence ministers signed a new vision for the development of Nordic defence cooperation up to 2030.
Vision 2030 will strengthen Nordic defence cooperation in eight areas including strategic dialogue and consultations on current issues and the security situation; the ability to conduct and command multinational combined operations; host nation support and logistical support to enable joint operations; military mobility to, between, and through the Nordic countries.
As well as providing capabilities based on strategic and operational requirements; defence materiel cooperation for increased interchangeability; security of military supplies for increased resilience; total defence to secure adequate support to the defence sector from all sectors of society in all threatening scenarios and situations.
The current NORDEFCO consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and has the overall purpose of strengthening the participants’ national defence, explore common synergies, and facilitate efficient common solutions. Nordic ministers of defence meet twice a year; the chiefs of defence also meet twice a year while day-to-day work at a political level is carried out by a political steering committee.
The previous Vision 2025 strongly focused on the “growing threat from terror, cyber, and hybrid challenges’, while it’s understood the new agreement will focus on military defence from Russia and impacts of the Ukraine War.
