The Future of Nordic Cooperation in Foreign and Security Policy

The military cooperation between Sweden and Finland is often highlighted as exemplary while less attention is paid to the civil cooperation in societal security and civil defence as conducted and planned at present already. At the same time, we stand on the threshold of a new and changed threat that requires new cross-border cooperation in societal security as can be clearly seen not least in the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The so-called 2009 Stoltenberg Report, that lists a range of possibilities for a strengthened Nordic defence and security cooperation and several of whose proposals have been implemented, has got a sequel. This time, the report covers societal security and is less focussed on military defence. In July 2020, the rapporteur Björn Bjarnason submitted the report with suggestions as to what the continued integration of Nordic defence and security cooperation should focus on.

November 17, 2020 10-12 am (Finnish time)

PROGRAMME

10.00 Moderator Teija Tiilikainen, director European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats

Introduction
Jan-Erik Enestam, Chairman of the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation

Antti Kaikkonen, Minister of Defence, Finland
Peter Hultqvist, Minister of Defence, Sweden

The Future of Nordic Cooperation in Foreign and Security Policy
Björn Bjarnason, Rapporteur, former minister

Perspectives

Bilateral
Ilkka Kanerva, Chairman of the Defence Committee, the Parliament of Finland
Pål Jonson, Chairman of the Committee on Defence, the Parliament of Sweden

Nordic
Mikkel Runge Olesen, Senior Researcher, Danish Institute for International Studies
Kristin Haugevik, Senior Researcher, Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt

European
Björn Fägersten, Senior Research Fellow, The Swedish Institute of International Affairs

Language: English
Organizers: The Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation, Hanaholmen, The Swedish Institute of International Affairs