Europe
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland start work on a joint defence agreement at the NORDEFCO meeting in Oslo
The five Nordic countries decided at the NORDEFCO defence ministers’ meeting in Oslo on November 11–12 to begin work on a joint defence cooperation agreement, giving Nordic military cooperation a single legal framework for the first time.
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland decided to start work on a joint defence cooperation agreement, which will for the first time give a single legal framework to the military cooperation of the Nordic countries. The decision was taken at the meeting of defence ministers of Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) in Oslo, on November 11 and 12, and is recorded in the joint statement of the meeting.
In the joint statement the five countries speak of a “new chapter” in Nordic defence cooperation, as Europe takes on a greater share of responsibility for its own defence. The Nordic countries, the Icelandic government notes, want to carry their own share of the burden within NATO. The future agreement is expected to clarify the legal basis of the cooperation, to support its rapid expansion and to increase the five countries’ contribution to the Alliance’s collective defence.
NATO, rising defence spending and strengthened deterrence were also on the table. Part of the discussions was attended by the chiefs of defence of the five countries and by General Nick Perry, the new commander of NATO’s operational headquarters in Norfolk, in the United States.
250 fighters and 100,000 troops
Norwegian Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik, host of the meeting, explained the ambition behind the agreement in remarks carried by the Barents Observer. The aim, he said, is for the Nordic armed forces “to operate together even more effectively and without obstacles across national borders”. He also gave the size of the joint force: about 250 modern fighter aircraft, nearly 145 surface ships and about 100,000 military personnel in peacetime. “We train together more than ever. Now we want to take the cooperation one step further”, he added.
The cooperation will focus on command and the conduct of joint operations, capability development, materiel procurement and operational support. The countries have set the goal of tripling the region’s ammunition production capacity by 2030. On Ukraine, the statement calls Russia’s war “the most pressing challenge to our security” and repeats the commitment to political, military, economic and humanitarian support for Kyiv.
A joint session of NORDEFCO with the Hague Cooperation, the five-country format for civil protection, was also held, with emphasis on the resilience of societies. Iceland, which has no armed forces, was represented by the Secretary General of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Martin Eyjólfsson. On the margins the British government’s Atlantic Future Forum took place aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, where the heads of the navies of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) confirmed their closer cooperation at sea.
NORDEFCO was founded in 2009 and gained new weight after Finland and Sweden joined NATO. Practical formats have already advanced within its framework, such as the Swedish Navy’s Saildrone maritime drones for surveillance of the Baltic, while Sweden recently hosted NATO’s Dynamic Merlin 26 anti-submarine exercise. Norway held this year’s presidency and from January 1, 2027 the baton passes to Sweden.
