Sun, 04 Oct, 2015 12:04:13 AM Refugee issue discussed in Nordic council meeting FTimes – STT Report, Oct 4  (From L) The prime ministers, Juha Sipila of Finland and Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson of Iceland, Lars Loekke Rasmussen of Denmark, Erna Solberg of Norway, Stefan Lofven of Sweden, , pose for a group photo on October 3, 2015 at the Marienborg castle in Lyngby, Denmark. The prime ministers of the Nordic countries - Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark meet informally to discuss common challenges. Photo – AFP / Lehtikuva. The prime ministers of the Nordic countries strongly addressed the decision-making arenas in Europe, specifically in relation to the ongoing refugee crisis, at a discussion in Denmark on Saturday.
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä called for a European solution to the crisis as well as for a strengthening of external borders. On the north’s internal borders and operations therein, the ministers were quieter.
“This problem always returns to its roots: that our external borders do not hold. Everyone wants to act now in support of strengthening our borders,” Sipilä said outside of Marienborg manor, on the outskirts of Copenhagen.
The Nordic leaders were very reluctant to criticise each other’s policies regarding the refugee crisis, though differences between the countries’ practices were discussed.
“We must not just criticise each other, but rather we must focus on resolving the crisis that forced people to become refugees,” said Swedish PM Stefan Löfven.
Sipilä told his colleagues in Denmark that a recent forecast predicted an estimated 50,000 asylum-seekers arriving in Finland this year.
“I spoke of the situation in Finland, and colleagues were surprised by how many applicants we have compared to our base population. These forecasts are predicting up to one per cent of our base population in applicants,” Sipilä said.
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