Baltic Sea countries and Nordic countries work together to strengthen civil preparedness

Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany have agreed to deepen their cooperation on protecting the civilian population and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the ministries responsible for civil preparedness. The ministers discussed the Memorandum at a videoconference in February, with Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen representing Finland.

“Changes in the security environment require closer cooperation between our countries also in the field of civil defence. It is essential to prepare for voluntary movement of people across national borders in the event of a conflict,” says Minister Rantanen.

The aim of preparedness cooperation is to identify common challenges and development needs related to the protection of the population and to identify potential needs for legislative amendments. Joint planning is done to prepare for situations in which people move voluntarily, when there is no evacuation order from civilian authorities. It is important for public authorities to ensure that this movement is as controlled as possible.

The cooperation will also strengthen preparedness for highly exceptional situations, drawing on the experiences gained from Ukraine and other crisis areas.

The cooperation builds on NATO's baseline requirements for national resilience. According to the Memorandum, the participating countries will develop common planning principles and coordinated procedures for managing population movements and for conducting cross-border evacuations, including the necessary exchange of information. The Memorandum is not legally binding.

Work to implement the Memorandum began in Stockholm on 3–4 March. The work was launched at a high‑level meeting attended by representatives of the signatory countries, the EU and NATO. Following the high‑level meeting, experts continued discussions on the principles of joint planning and agreed to establish a working group.

Inquiries:
Jussi Korhonen, Director, Civil Preparedness, tel. +358 295 488 289  [email protected]