Want to have stronger Nordic foreign and security policy

The Centre Group positions were represented by the Finnish MP Jouni Ovaska during a security policy debate at the Nordic Council Session.

“Mr. Chair! Foreign and security policy has become an even more central part of Nordic cooperation. Exactly two years ago we heard NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Copenhagen, and now he was here again as our guest. This tells about the time and the situation that the whole world and also the Nordic countries are in right now.

The Nordic ministers and ministries cooperate closely and in practice, but we also need a framework for formal cooperation in the Nordic Council. Although the Nordic Council has gradually expanded its work area, the Centre Group believes that the Helsinki Treaty needs to be updated. I know that many ministers and even many ministries are afraid that if the agreement is opened, it will raise too many difficult questions. But the in the Centre Group we want a stronger common Nordic foreign and security policy with shared Nordic discussion, visions, goals and strategies.

For the first time since the Kalmar Union, all the Nordic countries are linked to each other in foreign and security policy. Soon we will all be members of NATO. This means that we plan together, coordinate together, make purchases together and also take care of security of supply and transport connections. That is why the Nordic countries must be stronger than ever, especially if the EU is weak – and also in relation to the votes in the UN – the Nordic countries must show in which direction the world must go.”