Response to interpellation 2023/24:812 on Nordic cooperation
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M considers that the Nordic cooperation rests on a solid foundation and is a high priority 1. M argues that the cooperation works very well and that the word "improve" is not appropriate 2 3. M emphasizes that the autonomous regions are engaged and that decisions are made through consensus 2. M argues that one acts according to tradition by breaking down border barriers 3. M argues that Greenland's absence was due to obstacles 4 and that the Faroe Islands and Åland were very engaged 4. S considers that the basis for the cooperation is fragile and that it is concerning that Greenland has paused its participation 5 6 7. S argues that Sweden, as chair, must act 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Jessika Roswall (M)
Madam Speaker! Eva Lindh has asked me how I assess the possibilities for improved cooperation within the Nordic region following the current events, and whether I intend to take any measures to improve cooperation within the Nordic region.
Nordic cooperation rests on a solid foundation. We belong to each other's closest partners, and together we constitute a significant political and economic force.
The uncertain global situation and Finland's and Sweden's entry into Nato have contributed to further strengthening ties not only within the Nordic region but around the entire Baltic Sea. I agree with Eva Lindh: Our cooperation is now deeper and more important than ever. There is also a great consensus in the Nordic countries that our cooperation is central to being able to handle common challenges in our countries, for our companies and citizens. The vision that the Nordic region should become the world's most sustainable and integrated region by 2030 is only achieved if we work together.
Nordic cooperation, as well as safeguarding and developing our already strong and close ties with our nearest neighbors, is a high priority for the government. This has been clear in both government declarations and foreign policy declarations. It is also manifested by the frequent exchange of visits that I and my government colleagues have had, both bilaterally and in a Nordic and Nordic-Baltic context. Not least, the Nordic prime ministers have met twice during the spring in Stockholm.
The Swedish chairmanship in the Nordic Council and the informal foreign and security policy collaborations N5 and NB8 also give us good opportunities to make the extensive Nordic cooperation visible.
During the year, a hundred meetings and conferences are organized in connection with our chairmanship in the Nordic Council, of which about twenty are at the ministerial level. We appreciate the commitment and active role of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland in the Nordic Council and look forward to active participation in the many meetings that we organize during the Swedish chairmanship. During our chairmanship, we focus particularly on breaking down border barriers, and my colleagues from the Faroe Islands and Åland participated actively in the discussions on this in connection with the cooperation ministers' summer meeting in Malmö in June.
In summary, Madam Speaker, it can be stated that the Nordic cooperation is extensive and takes place in various forums and formats, both formal and informal. Closer and stronger Nordic cooperation is a clear priority for the Swedish government, and the work to improve an already close cooperation is carried out continuously together with our Nordic neighbors.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! Nordic cooperation is very important for us in Sweden and for all the Nordic countries. Since I joined the Nordic Council, I have also seen it very clearly. This matter of Nordic benefit is not something we just say, but it is something that is seriously very crucial.
We take pleasure in each other's cooperation because in many ways we are alike. I have seen that in many things we are very similar in goals and means and in how we build up our societies, but it has also struck me how different we are.
It may seem like a paradox, but we are actually more alike and at the same time more different than I thought before I joined the Nordic Council. That very connection also means that we have so much to gain from each other and can learn from each other. One can do things in different ways, and that is very good.
This cooperation is becoming increasingly important in the situation we find ourselves in. We do not only benefit from each other when we learn from each other so that we can develop our societies, our politics and everything else, but when the world is uncertain, it is also important and good that we neighbors join forces and learn from each other, but also help and support each other here in the Nordic region.
The Nordic cooperation has a very clear vision: the Nordic countries shall become the world's most sustainable and integrated region by 2030. It is a vision that I know the government and I share. It is an important vision, and we must fight for it.
I thank the Minister for the answer. It is good that I received it, and I perhaps sensed that the answer would be what it became – a friendly and good answer. I share, in all essential matters, precisely the view that the Minister expresses in the answer to my question. But she does not quite answer the questions I have asked, and I requested this debate because I believe that we need to work through the difficulties we have nevertheless ended up in.
The Minister mentions that the Nordic cooperation stands on a solid foundation. In large parts, I agree with that. But during the pandemic, it turned out that the foundation might not have been as solid as we thought. During the pandemic, our cooperation was challenged, and we perhaps did not stand so close to each other as we could have, which would have been very good during the crisis we were in then. Now we have more of a security policy crisis, and then it is important that we build the solid foundation that we hope we will be able to have.
This year, Sweden is the chair of the Nordic Council, and the decisions taken are made by Sweden. Two things have caused Greenland to pause the cooperation, precisely at a time when it is so important: a statement from the Council of State when we were in the Faroe Islands this spring and that not everyone was invited to the meeting held later during the spring. This has caused, above all Greenland but also the Faroe Islands, to react.
How should the government act to improve cooperation in the Nordic region in light of these events?
Statsrådet Jessika Roswall (M)
Madam Speaker! We are largely in agreement regarding the view on the cooperation, and I have made roughly the same journey as Eva has made when it comes to seeing for myself how good the cooperation is. Therefore, I reacted a little to the word "improve", because I think the cooperation works very well.
Let me break down the issue of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, as I perceive it. I have in all contexts been very clear that I appreciate the importance of having good cooperation with the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland and that I appreciate their active and engaged role in the ministerial council. They naturally have important things to contribute, and the self-governing territories can also be present with their own representatives in practically all contexts within the Nordic Council. They also have the opportunity to present their views. They do not have the right to vote, but during my two years, the decisions have in practice always been made by consensus.
Let me provide a little background. In 2007, the participation of the self-governing territories was strengthened through the so-called Åland Document. There, they were given the opportunity to take an active part in the current chairmanship. They participate, for example, in the cooperation ministers' question time at the Nordic Council, and they also have the opportunity to seek full membership in various cooperation bodies and institutions. This has been utilized by the Faroe Islands, and they have applied for and been admitted as members in, among others, Nordic Energy Research, Nordforsk, and Nordic Innovation.
The interview dealt, among other things, with full membership, the Helsinki Accords, and the review of it. The questions were in Faroese but not my answers, and the focus was on the improvement and deepening of the cooperation. The question of full membership in the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers has been actualized and examined several times by expert lawyers, and the conclusion has always been that international treaties, such as the Helsinki Accords, are concluded between states, and within international law, the concept of "state" itself is defined. The Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland are therefore represented by Denmark and Finland respectively. This has implications in many areas, including the foreign policy situations concerning the Nordic Council of Ministers. I do not intend to go into this further because the position of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the Nordic cooperation is a matter that should primarily be handled within the Danish community.
My basic perception is that the cooperation between the Nordic countries and the autonomous entities works very well, and I appreciate that all eight are engaged in the cooperation and have a common vision and approach to solving various problems and seeing the opportunities that exist.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! I will not press the Minister on more of what underlies these questions, but it is about autonomy and so on. My focus is on the fact that regardless of what the Minister considers himself to have said, it has been perceived in a certain way. Politics is not just about our intentions but about what is said and perhaps above all how it is said and perceived. I saw a headline that read "Swedish top politician stole the show". So perhaps it was not exactly that. But the statement in the Faroe Islands received a lot of attention, and when Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Åland were then not invited, it was perceived in a certain way.
My perception is that we have a good cooperation in the Nordic region. The foundation is good but also fragile. All cooperation is about showing that one wants to move forward. When Greenland reacts to the statement from the Swedish government by pausing its participation in the Nordic Council, Sweden, as chair, must act and show that we want a cooperation regardless of what happens in Denmark. We shall not interfere in Denmark's decisions, but we shall interfere in the cooperation in the Nordic Council.
I am concerned. Otherwise, I would not have asked this question. Nordic cooperation is crucial moving forward, and then all parts of the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers must be solid and stand on a strong foundation. It is required for the Nordic region to reach the vision of being the most sustainable and integrated region by 2030.
The cooperation is good, but I believe that the Minister and I can agree that we have not gone all the way and that there are always areas that can be improved. In recent months, we have taken one or a couple of steps backward, and that concerns me because cooperation is particularly important today. It is not just about doing what we usually do, i.e., learning from each other and taking advantage of the Nordic community, but about being strong together in the difficult security policy situation that we all Nordic countries are in.
In light of what has happened and the reactions that have emerged, what does the Minister and the Government intend to do to improve the conditions so that everyone, including Greenland, wants to continue to be a part of the important Nordic cooperation?
Statsrådet Jessika Roswall (M)
Madam Speaker! I think we are talking about two things at the same time. I listened to the interview myself, and my answers were about the Helsinki Accords. Then things may have continued in Faroese, which I do not understand. But what I said then and what I have said here in the chamber several times is that the Helsinki Accords have served us well and have functioned for a long time. Let us stick to that. Despite the fact that the world has developed in different ways since then, the accords have fundamentally served us well, and we have been able to meet different challenges as they arose. That was what I answered, and as I said, I truly appreciate the commitment and active participation of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland.
What we are also talking about now is the prime ministers' summer meeting. Historically, there is an agreement on what one has to adhere to when serving as chair of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
There is an agreement that it is up to the chairing country to organize the so-called summer meeting. It took place here in Stockholm and Sweden with the participation of the heads of government from the Nordic member countries and the Federal Chancellor of Germany. The focus of the meeting was security, and I have also responded to Greenland, which has written a letter to the Prime Minister. It is important to have those discussions, and it was a very successful meeting.
Sweden chose to do this just as Norway did in 2022. Then we will arrange a meeting for all eight during the session in Reykjavík, which also happens according to tradition. This will, as Eva Lindh knows, take place at the end of October.
Eva Lindh's question is: What do we do then to improve? I object to that word, because I think the cooperation is very good. At the summer meeting that I arranged in Malmö this summer, everyone participated - except Greenland, admittedly - and everyone is active and engaged, and we have the same goal.
I agree that the pandemic showed - and it was probably a shock for all nations - that cooperation did not work as well as one had thought, but after the pandemic I have not been at a single meeting where we have not returned to the fact that we must not repeat what happened then. In the summer of 2022, the Nordic cooperation ministers signed an agreement in Halden to ensure that we always have this issue on the agenda, so that we can handle future crises in a better way.
I was in Morokulien yesterday, on the border between Norway and Sweden, to physically have discussions about the future. It is not just such things that apply to all the Nordic countries, but it also concerns bilateral agreements.
What we do during the chairship is, therefore, to focus on the opportunities, to break down barriers and ensure that the work is driven forward. We have also succeeded in this in several different ways. I agree that the cooperation can always be improved, but it is still a cooperation that has existed for an incredibly long time and works well.
As Eva Lindh said initially, we are the same yet different. That is also what is the charm. But we all see the potential that the work can become even better.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister turns to the word "improve". I must begin by addressing this. I assume the Minister does not mean that we have achieved the vision of being the world's most integrated and sustainable region. In that case, "improve" cannot be a negative word. There are always opportunities to make it better, and that is exactly what I truly desire. That is also why I have requested this debate.
For the sake of argument, everyone agrees on the interpretation that the fact that the meeting took place without the presence of representatives from the autonomous regions of Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland - which has actually only occurred twice before, namely in 2015 and 2022; all other times everyone has been present - is something that deviates from the norm. This is interpreted in a clear way by other parties. This is not our right.
The situation has arisen regardless of whether the Minister thinks it should be so or not, and Greenland has paused its participation. It is concerning, I think.
I ask: Does the Minister judge that it is a problem that we have it in this way, i.e., that Greenland has paused its participation and that the Faroe Islands have also expressed themselves critically? That is my first question, which I hope the Minister can answer before this debate is over.
The second thing is: I interpret it as that the Minister considers that Sweden's government does not need to act. Is that correct? It is important to know if the Minister considers that the government does not need to act in the situation that has arisen.
Statsrådet Jessika Roswall (M)
Madam Speaker! The letter that has been sent by Greenland expresses that they will not continue their participation in the Nordic Council. I find it difficult to comment on that, as the Nordic Council is something that Eva Lindh and several others are participants in. But when it comes to the Nordic Council of Ministers, which I as Cooperation Minister lead, everyone participated. The reason why Greenland was not present at the summer meeting was not what is stated in the letter, but that they had an impediment. That is the explanation I have received. The Faroe Islands and Åland were there, as I said initially, and they were very engaged and active. We have an incredibly good cooperation.
As I have also said, the Prime Minister will arrange a meeting in Reykjavík according to tradition. There, we will have a focus on more Nordic issues. The summer meeting had a security policy orientation.
Let me round off with the question of whether we have reached the vision or not. On that, we are in complete agreement. We have a few years left. But when I stepped in as Minister for Cooperation, my starting point was that it is not that far away until 2030. We agree on the vision, but if we are to get there, we must prioritize that what we do actually has an effect and yields results. Therefore, I am also trying to set the focus on the cross-cutting issues, which we have done at every meeting I have chaired. It has been about tax issues, about digitalization issues, and about the labor market. There, we need to become even more integrated.
We have succeeded in delivering an Öresund agreement. We have succeeded when it comes to building a police station on the border in Morokulien. There is much more to do. We are working to reach the vision, and it is absolutely possible to improve.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.