More Focus on Civil Preparedness in Nordic Cooperation!

The Centre Group wants to focus on total defence and preparedness, and to facilitate and clarify cooperation between the civil and military sectors. The group believes that the two must structurally correspond to each other.

At the Nordic Council’s September meetings in Oslo, the Centre Group presented a new proposal on preparedness and civil defence. The background to this proposal is that the Nordic military cooperation, NORDEFCO, has developed significantly in recent years, while the civil crisis and preparedness cooperation, the Haga cooperation, has not progressed in the same way. This makes collaboration between the two more difficult.

– Civil preparedness, security, and resilience are a central part of military security. The Centre Group believes that civil crisis cooperation must keep pace with military development in order for the two to work together as effectively as possible, says Jouni Ovaska, Chair of the Centre Group.

– Civil preparedness engages young people. It is important that total preparedness is also on the Nordic agenda, so that young people can more easily cooperate on preparedness at the Nordic level, says Andreas Salomonsson, who represents the Nordic Youth Council (UNR) and the Centre Group.

The Centre Group proposes, among other things, a Nordic theme day for civil defence and preparedness, as well as joint Nordic exercises and healthcare planning. The proposal was approved at the Centre Group’s meeting in Oslo on 15 September 2025.

Photo: Centre Group meeting in Oslo, 15 September 2025.