Nordic governments set up commission to review the Helsinki Treaty

This article was updated on 16 April when the names of the members of the Commission were added.

At a meeting on 16 March, the Nordic Ministers for Co-operation (MR-SAM) decided to set up a commission to review the Helsinki Treaty,

which defines the frameworks for formalised Nordic co-operation under the auspices of the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. 

The Commission will consist of eight members authorised to represent the governments of Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Åland. Denmark will chair it as part of the joint Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers along with the Faroe Islands in 2026. 

The members of the Commission: 

• Vibeke Pasternak Jørgensen, Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
• Maria Guseff, Director of the Unit for EU and Treaty Law, the Legal Service, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland
• Elisabeth F. Rasmussen, Head of Mission of the Faroe Islands to the EU, The Faroe Islands
• Maria Birkedal Olsen, Lawyer, Chairman’s Department, Greenland
• Anna Pála Sverrisdóttir, Deputy Director General, Director of International Law, Directorate for Legal and Executive Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Iceland
• Dr. Jørgen Sørgard Skjold, Legal Adviser on International Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
• Carina Mårtensson, Sweden’s Representative on the Nordic Committee for Co-operation (NSK), Senior Adviser, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden
• Niclas Slotte, Åland’s Representative on the Nordic Committee for Co-operation (NSK), Head of Unit, Senior Legal Adviser to the Government, Åland

Signed in 1962, the Helsinki Treaty forms the legal basis for Nordic co-operation in the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. It was last amended in 1996 when Finland and Sweden joined the EU. The day on which the treaty was signed, 23 March, is celebrated as Nordic Day.