Finland Times

 

Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb speaks during a press conference ahead of the Nordic and Baltic prime ministers meeting for the Nordic Council's 66th Session at the Rosenbad government office in Stockholm on October 27, 2014. The Nordic Council's 66th Session will take place in Sweden between 28-30 of October. Photo AFP-Lehtikuva.

Prime Minister Alexander Stubb at a session of the Nordic Council on Monday and at a meeting of prime ministers in Stockholm on Tuesday encouraged practical and effective utilisation of Nordic cooperation.

 

“Cooperation with the Nordic countries is hugely important for Finland; we are one family. We have very similar strengths and challenges. We can, however, tighten our cooperation further: removing frontier barriers and brightening the Nordic brand around the world are very concrete tasks for us,” a Government Communications Department press release quoted Stubb as saying in the meeting in Sweden.  

 

The prime minister’s visit to Stockholm began on Monday with a meeting of the prime ministers of the Nordic and Baltic countries. Among the topics discussed at the meeting were the political and economic situation of Europe, Latvia’s presidency of the EU in 2015, and trade agreement negotiations between the EU and the United States.

 

In addition, the prime ministers discussed key international issues and the digital single market, said the release.

 

The prime ministers of Nordic countries met on Tuesday.

 

The prime ministers discussed, among other things, Arctic cooperation, Nordic security and defence cooperation, and international climate negotiations.

 

Prime Minister Stubb’s speech addressed the subject of Barents Region cooperation. The prime ministers of the Nordic countries met representatives of the Åland Islands, the Faroe Islands and Greenland as well as the Presidium of the Nordic Council.

 

The discussions of the summit that launched the 66th session of the Nordic Council highlighted, among other things, issues relating to Nordic defence cooperation as well as better utilisation of the Nordic countries’ joint strengths, according to the release.