Nordic, Baltic ministers seek closer partnership amid Ukraine crisis

  • 2014-09-12
  • From wire reports, TALLINN

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Paet (photo: flickr)

Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers have called for closer defense cooperation amid the crisis in the Ukraine

Speaking after a meeting of foreign ministers in Tallinn today, Estonia's foreign minister Urmas Paet said closer cooperation in joint military training exercises and cyber security would be seen.

"NATO is the key guarantor of security. But the in-depth cooperation of eight Nordic and Baltic countries in the already existing forms, such as in the Baltic Defense College, and the European Union's Nordic Battle Group is also very important, as is finding new possibilities - for example, the Nordic and Baltic countries joint exercises plan and the regional training center to be founded in Ämari," Paet said.

Speaking about the recent NATO summit in Wales, Paet added:  "The contribution of Finland and Sweden to regional security is remarkable."

Paet added that connecting the region with information technology, energy, and transport connections is important for strengthening security and enhancing competitiveness, Delfi reports. A high level cyber security meeting would be held in October, Paet added.

"For Estonia as the presiding state of the Nordic and Baltic countries, cyber security is a priority and in the framework of the presidency, we will organize in October a high-level cyber meeting, which creates an opportunity to advance the cyber security dialog between the Nordic and Baltic countries and the United States and the sharing of experiences," he said. 

The Foreign Ministers also discussed developments in the Middle East and the situation in Iraq.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard, Iceland's Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Hans Brattskar, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius met on Thursday and Friday in Tallinn for the in the Baltic and Nordic countries cooperation meeting. This year, Estonia is the Nordic-Baltic (NB8 - Nordic-Baltic 8) cooperation coordinator.