Foreign and security policy as well as Arctic cooperation the topics of the supe
The 66th Session of the Nordic Council and the associated ministerial meetings will take place in Stockholm on 27–30 October. The Government of Finland will be represented by Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade and Nordic Cooperation Lenita Toivakka, Minister of Culture and Housing Piia Viitanen and Minister of the Environment Sanni Grahn-Laasonen.
In Stockholm the ministers will participate in the session of the Nordic Council and the Nordic meetings for their own sector.
Prime Minister Alexander Stubb will attend the meetings of the Nordic prime ministers and the Nordic and Baltic prime ministers. The issues for discussion by the Nordic prime ministers are Arctic policy and cooperation in the Barents region as well as topical foreign and security policy issues.
During their meeting the prime ministers of the Nordic and Baltic countries, in turn, will discuss the economic situation in Europe, Latvia’s upcoming EU Presidency, the situation in Ukraine and the situations in Syria and Iraq.
In addition, the prime ministers will deliver speeches at the Nordic Council session.
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will participate in the meeting of Nordic foreign ministers. Its main themes are further development of Nordic cooperation in foreign and security policy and topical foreign policy issues, such as the Russian and Ukrainian situation and the situations in Iraq and Syria. In addition, the foreign ministers will discuss Arctic issues and current UN-related topics.
Iceland holds the chairmanship of the Nordic cooperation in foreign and security policy this year.
In Stockholm, Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Lenita Toivakka will take part in the meetings of the ministers for Nordic cooperation and the ministers for European affairs and foreign trade. The ministers for European affairs will discuss topical EU issues, such as the new Commission’s priorities, the Eastern Partnership and the EU’s climate and energy work. The agenda of the meeting for the ministers of foreign trade includes, for instance, current WTO issues, negotiations on the free trade agreement between the EU and the United States as well as other international free trade negotiations. Aside from the session proper, Minister Toivakka will meet Finnish and Swedish enterprise actors.
Minister of Culture and Housing Piia Viitanen will attend the meeting of the Nordic ministers of culture, where cultural and political priority-setting and the budget for 2015 are among the items for discussion. Minister of the Environment Sanni Grahn-Laasonen will also participate in the meeting of Nordic environment ministers.
In addition, Anne Sipilä, Under-Secretary of State for Development Cooperation and Development Policy, will take part in the dinner for the Nordic development ministers, where the topics for discussion will be, among others, trade and development as well as the actions of the Nordic countries as regards the Ebola epidemic.
The Session of the Nordic Council is the largest Nordic forum of the year, bringing together Nordic parliamentarians, prime ministers, opposition leaders and sector ministers. Intergovernmental cooperation is chaired this year by Iceland. Finland will hold the chairmanship in 2016.
Additional information:
Prime Minister: Special Adviser Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen, mobile tel. +358 40 748 3867, Kari Kahiluoto, Head of the National Secretariat for Nordic Cooperation, mobile tel. +358 50 575 4973, and Communications Specialist Maria Nurmi, mobile tel. +358 50 408 4061;
Minister for Foreign Affairs: Diplomatic Adviser Katja Kalamäki, mobile tel. +358 40 590 7973;;
Minister for Nordic Cooperation: Chief of Cabinet Marja Koskela, tel. +358 295 350 633
Nordic Council: www.norden.org/en