Ilkka Kanerva to host the Foreign Minister Meeting of the Nordic and Baltic states

Press release 148/2007
10 August 2007

Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva will host the annual Foreign Minister Meeting of the five Nordic states and the three Baltic states in Turku on 16-17 August. The tradition of organising NB8 (Nordic Baltic Eight) Group Foreign Minister Meetings towards the end of summer started already in 1993. The last meeting in Finland was held in Helsinki in 2001. The Turku meeting will be attended by the Foreign Ministers of Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Estonia, and the Danish Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The main theme of the meeting is how to strengthen the status of the Baltic Sea region in the EU and co-operation between the Baltic Sea region states, for instance, within the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The countries in the region have woken up more widely to the realisation that Northern Europe needs to adopt a more strategic approach and intensify its co-operation structures, especially now when the EU is increasingly focusing its attention towards the south.

The auxiliary programme of the meeting will support the Baltic Sea theme, emphasising the Baltic Sea and oceanic dimensions of the Turku region. The programme of the ministers will include a boat cruise, a visit at the Aker Yards shipyard and a dinner served at the Turku Castle.

Other topics to be handled during the ministerial meeting include Kosovo, the Middle East and the situation in Afghanistan.

Additional information: Counsellor Ari Tasanen, Department for Europe, tel. +358 9 1605 5630, and Press Attaché for the Minister Juha Kirstilä, tel. +358 9 1605 5012