Important step towards an updated Helsinki Treaty
The President of the Nordic Council, Ville Väyrynen, and the Secretary General, Kristina Háfoss, both attended the meeting of the ministers for Nordic co-operation. They are pictured talking to the ministers from Norway and Sweden.
Ministers from Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Åland discussed revising the treaty, which has served as the framework for official Nordic co-operation since 1962 and was last amended in 1996. The aim is to update and modernise it.
We are ready to play our part in the process and ensure that Nordic co-operation is close and takes a form in keeping with the times we live in.
The President of the Nordic Council, Jorodd Asphjell:
“We are pleased that the governments have listened to the Nordic Council’s unanimous call to update the Helsinki Treaty. It is an important and timely step. The treaty was last updated 30 years ago, and issues like digitalisation, the climate, barriers to freedom of movement, defence, security and contingency planning all now play a far bigger role in Nordic co-operation.”
Väyrynen stresses that the Nordic Region has a unique opportunity to renew co-operation between the eight countries.
“The Nordic Council has unanimously encouraged the governments to set up a Nordic Commission with a mandate to present concrete proposals for modernisation – and we expect to be involved. We are ready to play our part in the process and ensure that Nordic co-operation is close and takes a form in keeping with the times we live in.”
The Nordic Council looks forward to the rest of the process and to close consultation with the governments.
The President also informed the meeting about the joint Finnish and Ålandic Programme for the Presidency of the Nordic Council in 2026, and he provided input on the Nordic Council of Ministers’ budget for 2027.
Further background material is available at the following links:
