For the first time ever, both the foreign ministers and defense ministers of the five Nordic countries were gathering this weekend for a joint meeting, and it was taking place September 2-3 in the northern Norwegian city of Bodø. Norway’s own foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, said the meeting was a reflection of how the northern areas are “steadily becoming more important, for both foreign and defense policy.”
Støre and Norwegian Defense Minister Espen Barth Eide were prepared to host their counterparts from Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland to discuss security issues and other challenges, not least in the Arctic. Støre said the meeting also was “a practical expression of tighter cooperation within the Nordic area.”
Closer Nordic military cooperation regarding both material and joint exercises was also on the agenda, along with the handling of international crises and tours of the Norwegian defense department’s operative headquarters and rescue center in Bodø.
Views and News staff
