Ministers for Nordic cooperation to set up commission to examine possible update of Helsinki Treaty

At their remote meeting on Monday 16 March, the ministers for Nordic cooperation decided to set up a commission to examine ways of strengthening the status of Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland in Nordic cooperation. Minister for Nordic Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz represented Finland at the meeting.

In 2024, the Nordic Council recommended an update to the Helsinki Treaty, which forms the legal basis for Nordic cooperation. During Finland’s and Åland’s presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2025, the Nordic governments appointed Professor Elina Pirjatanniemi from Åbo Akademi University as the rapporteur. She was assigned to study the legal implications related to the possible update of the Helsinki Treaty.

The legal study was published on 4 February 2026, and the ministers for Nordic cooperation discussed it later that month.

On 16 March, the ministers decided to set up a commission. The Nordic governments and autonomous regions now appoint their representatives to the commission.

The Helsinki Treaty is a treaty of cooperation between the five Nordic countries. The Treaty was signed on 23 March 1962, and this date is celebrated every year as Nordic Day.