The Nordic prime ministers: Agreed on international branding of the Nordic Region

28.10.14 | News
Nordiskt statsministermöte i Rosenbad
Photographer
Magnus Fröderberg/norden.org
The Nordic prime ministers met at the Nordic Council summit meeting in Stockholm on 28 October and discussed both international policy and freedom of movement between the Nordic countries.

The prime ministers welcomed a new strategy for joint branding of the Region at their press conference.

"The Nordic Region has a good reputation abroad and we must now see how we can further develop our Nordic brand. I anticipate that we can support each other far more internationally", said Finland's prime minister Alexander Stubb.

His Danish counterpart Helle Thorning-Schmidt backed him up, also in relation to increased co-operation on climate change and in international politics in general.

"We must use the momentum there is around climate issues right now and work together to achieve a global agreement at the UN climate summit in Paris next year. With our Nordic solidarity we can actually make a difference in the world", said the Danish prime minister.

She underlined that obstacles for freedom of movement in the Nordic countries is another area of high priority, also in order to strengthen growth in the Region.

Nordic pragmatism

The prime ministers had also discussed Middle East issues and Sweden's recognition of Palestine at their joint meeting before the press conference.

We are in agreement that we want a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. But we are also agree that we are following different paths in the matter. It is probably an expression of Nordic pragmatism that we choose different paths towards the same goal in all friendliness", said Sweden's new prime minister Stefan Löfven.

Norway supported this, also in regard to Russia and security matters in general.

"We are working with security issues through the different partnerships we have here in the Region and complement each other well", said the Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg at the press conference.

The Nordic Council Session, the annual summit for Nordic co-operation, continiues over the next two days with focus on a common labour market, education and integration in the Nordic Region.

Read the new Nordic branding and positioning strategy on common Nordic branding.