Nordic foreign and security policy cooperation to be intensified
The meeting received an independent report on the topic compiled by Thorvald Stoltenberg, former defence minister and foreign minister of Norway. The Nordic foreign ministers’ meeting held in June 2008 appointed Stoltenberg to investigate the possibilities for Nordic cooperation in the field of foreign and security policy in a 10–15 year perspective.
In compiling the report, Stoltenberg was assisted by a high-level Nordic working group. The working group members from Finland were former MP, researcher Ulla Anttila and Professor Tuomas Forsberg.
Discussion proper of the recommendations concerning Nordic foreign and security policy cooperation contained in the Stoltenberg report will take place at the Nordic foreign ministers’ meeting in Reykjavik in April 2009.
Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb welcomes the Stoltenberg report, and considers it a valuable input in the discussion of further development of Nordic cooperation.
The importance of Nordic cooperation in foreign, security and defence policy is also stressed in Finland’s newly released security and defence policy report.
In addition to receiving the Stoltenberg report, the topics discussed at the meeting included the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nordic cooperation in the United Nations.
Report (Opens New Window) (2,34 MB)