Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz’s speech at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Heads of Mission
Minister Anders Adlercreutz: "For us, it is important to strengthen the Nordic countries’ resilience to crisis and to promote comprehensive and wide-ranging preparedness for various crises and hybrid threats."
Distinguished Ambassadors,
Having recently been appointed as the minister responsible for Nordic cooperation, I value this opportunity to meet you and participate in the Annual Meeting of Heads of Mission. The network of Finland’s missions is a key part of the Foreign Service, and your work is all the more important in the rapidly changing world context. In this connection, I would like to thank the entire staff of the Foreign Service in Finland and abroad for your valuable contribution.
As the new Minister for Nordic Cooperation, I am also happy to be able to say that the Nordic countries are our closest partners and that the Nordic region is our frame of reference when we look at the world. That is why I am particularly pleased that Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström is with us at this year’s Meeting of Heads of Mission in Finland.
Recent years have shown even more clearly how important Nordic cooperation truly is. Next year, it will be Finland’s turn to hold the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Finnish Presidency will be exercised in cooperation with Åland, and preparations are underway in the different administrative branches. The Presidency will offer Finland an opportunity to contribute to the common goals of the Nordic countries and to raise its profile in the Nordic region.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Finland has consistently underlined the significance of Nordic cooperation. The Nordic countries and Nordic cooperation are covered extensively in several of the current Government Programme’s policy sectors. Finland aims to be an active member of the Nordic community and work to deepen Nordic integration and dismantle obstacles to freedom of movement between the Nordic countries. Intensifying cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic countries is also important for Finland.
Nordic cooperation is strongly supported by not only the governments but also the people. Many civil society organisations, businesses and networks create a foundation for active communication. People move between the Nordic countries for reasons such as work or studies, and there are many families whose members are spread around the Nordic region. All this creates strong foundations for cooperation – and a need to enhance cooperation to meet today’s needs.
In a historical perspective, linguistic conditions and economic, cultural and political ties between the Nordic countries have shaped the Nordic community. Already during the interwar period, Nordic policy orientation had an important position in independent Finland’s foreign policy; during the Cold War, the Nordic countries became an important reference group for Finland. In 1955, Finland joined the Nordic Council, which had been established by Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark to promote inter-parliamentary cooperation between the countries. The agreement signed between the five Nordic countries in Helsinki in 1962 still forms the legal basis for cooperation. This official cooperation between the Nordic countries is considered as the oldest regional partnership in the world.
Distinguished Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a current holder of the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Sweden aims for a safer, greener and freer Nordic region. In March, Sweden became a member of NATO. The Nordic countries are strongly committed to promoting safety, peace and stability throughout the Euro-Atlantic region. The NATO membership of all five Nordic countries opens up a historic opportunity for further deepening our cooperation.
The Nordic prime ministers issued a joint declaration in Stockholm this spring. In their declaration, the ministers stress the growing importance of enhancing competitiveness and resilience in a deteriorating security situation following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The Nordic countries have consistently condemned Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. We stand united with our allies and partners in supporting Ukraine, and we are committed to long-term support for Ukraine.
The Nordic countries are internationally known for their highly competent and educated population. This is an important competitive factor and a foundation for sustainable economic growth, which also strengthens the resilience of our societies. It is important for the Nordic countries to continue to train new talent to meet adequately the needs of the labour market.
A common labour market is one of the cornerstones of Nordic cooperation, and this year under the Swedish Presidency, we celebrated the 70-year history of the common Nordic labour market. Working in another Nordic country is daily life for many people in the Nordic region, and cross-border movement is important for businesses as well as people. This becomes clear especially in border regions such as the Sound, Tornio and Haparanda. The Oresund Bridge linking the metropolitan areas of Copenhagen and Malmö is a well-known symbol of mobility between the Nordic countries. The bridge is a logistically important route for many Finnish companies. The transport connections between the Nordic countries and Central Europe will further improve in the future, when the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel connecting Denmark and Germany is completed.
To promote a common Nordic labour market and free movement, we need to continue our determined efforts to dismantle barriers between the Nordic countries. The promotion of free movement and integration is also an important priority for Finland. In dismantling cross-border barriers, it is reasonable to pay attention to matters that are key to enabling people to live and work in another Nordic country. Recently, the focus has been on digitalisation and taxation, among others.
Right now, most of the flow of students in the Nordic region is outward from Finland to the other Nordic countries. Efforts have been made to reduce this imbalance, a good example is the ground-breaking work done by Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. We should create a genuine, common Nordic market for students, with the idea that a student from Stockholm would be as likely to consider Turku as a place of study as a student from Vaasa would consider studying in Uppsala, which is the situation today.
Let us dismantle barriers to both work and study.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The first priority for Finland’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers next year will be the objectives of the prime ministers' shared vision and its three strategic priorities: a green, competitive and socially sustainable Nordic region. Finland’s Presidency will mark the start of a crucial period that will extend to 2030. It is important that we will move towards the vision efficiently, all the while benefiting the Nordic region.
During its previous Presidency, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, Finland highlighted the importance of deepening Nordic cooperation on security of supply and preparedness. In recent years, the Nordic countries have paid more attention to co-operation in this area, as a response to the changes in the security environment. For this reason, comprehensive security will be a major priority during Finland’s Presidency next year. For us, it is important to strengthen the Nordic countries’ resilience to crisis and to promote comprehensive and wide-ranging preparedness for various crises and hybrid threats. The Nordic countries share the concept of comprehensive security. The work towards this end must take account of the different policy sectors, and the co-operation within the Nordic Council of Ministers provides a good foundation for this work.
A so-called Svalbard Group has long cooperated in public health preparedness under the mandate of the Nordic Council of Ministers. This means that each Nordic country has the capacity, for example, to admit a certain number of patients with burns from the other countries. This year, the Swedish Presidency adopted a ministerial declaration on stepping up preparedness in food supply and forestry. A conference on the crisis resilience of democracy will be held in the autumn. A lot is happening in the cultural sector as well, and much remains to be done, from strengthening citizens’ crisis resilience to protecting cultural heritage. The topics on the Council’s agenda include security of the energy infrastructure, digital preparedness, media literacy and cooperation on preparedness in the transport sector, just to give a few examples.
Our other priority theme for the Presidency is children and young people. In recent years, participation has been an important theme of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ work. We now want to pay attention to a broader realisation of rights and, in particular, to the wellbeing of children and young people. The aim is to launch an initiative for a comprehensive study ‘Children and young people in the Nordic region 2030’.
During Finland's Presidency, we should also invest in the wellbeing of LGBTI people. There has been discussion on projects to support and develop public data collection on LGBTI people in the Nordic countries. Promoting gender equality, measures against discrimination based on gender and gender diversity, and improving the legal situation and living conditions of LGBTI people require sufficient research and information. This is why we consider it important that this work is taken forward.
Distinguished Ambassadors,
The world is interested in the Nordic Region and the solutions that we offer. Therefore, it is natural to highlight in various ways and in various international settings that Finland belongs in the Nordic family. The Nordic region is the best regional brand in the world. Every time Finland can strengthen its ties with the other Nordic countries, in either conceptual or concrete terms, it takes a step in the right direction. To give you a topical example of cooperation, the Nordic countries will have a common pavilion at next year’s World Expo in Osaka, Japan.
As you well know as professionals in diplomacy, Nordic missions cooperate on a daily basis. Colleagues from the other Nordic countries are important partners for Finns, and in many duty stations our missions even share premises. It is worth noting that the Nordic Council of Ministers may grant funding for Nordic missions’ joint projects outside the Nordic countries. Project funding is used to support the missions’ larger and smaller projects that promote the Nordic countries’ vision of a green, competitive and socially sustainable Nordic region. I am delighted that Finland’s diplomatic missions are actively making use of this opportunity.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Sometimes current Nordic co-operation is taken for granted in the public debate, even though it is the result of decades of effort. This effort has enabled us to build more wide-ranging cooperation on the foundation of our common history. It is our responsibility to foster and develop this valuable tradition of cooperation based on mutual trust.
Finland has a lot to offer to the other Nordic countries. Sharing experience and learning how others have solved issues is always useful. There are barriers to free movement, both large and small, that need to be addressed, and this is what we will do. Together we have every opportunity to find answers to the challenges that the future holds. Together we are strong.
Thank you.