On the 1st of January 2024 Denmark took over the Chair of NORDFECO. Denmark’s Chair priorities include continued support for Ukraine, strong dialogue with Allies, an increased attention on the Arctic and the North Atlantic and revisiting NORDEFCO-structures.
Denmark assumed the Chair of the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) on the 1st of January 2024, taking over from Sweden who held the chair in 2023.
Denmark’s Chair will be marked by Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine, which is a landmark event for the international security architecture with significant implications for European security. The Nordic countries are committed to supporting Ukraine politically and financially as well as with military training and equipment as long as it takes.
With the accessions of Finland and Sweden to NATO, the Nordic countries will cooperate closer than ever before on matters of security and defence. This has provided new impetus for the Nordic Defence Cooperation.
Building on the work took on by Sweden in 2023, the main task for NORDEFCO in 2024 is to build on and implement recent decisions, while maintaining a close cooperation internally and with partners on security challenges, in particular the continued support to Ukraine and the implications of NATO membership.
In the Nordic region, we expect new and old actors to act increasingly unpredictable in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic and the North Atlantic. While strengthening NORDEFCO cooperation to face the task of these challenges, NORDEFCO should also strengthen dialogue with NATO Allies in the region and closely align all initiatives with NATO plans and concepts.
The Nordic countries are facing new and special challenges in the North Atlantic and the Arctic region. This is important for strategic lines of communication and supply, as well as for capabilities and operational cooperation. Closer Nordic cooperation and coordination within the overall NATO-framework will be of importance.
NORDEFCO should continue to increase our ability to conduct and command combined joint operations, through common operations planning, complementary to national and allied planning within the
Nordic Defence Concept framework.
Among other areas of priority for 2024 are a refocused capability cooperation with an emphasis on the NATO Defence Planning Process, closer cooperation on exercises and initiatives to contribute further to NATO Armaments cooperation.
Several planned meetings
Two ministerial meetings will be held during the Danish Chair, one in the first half of the year and one in the second. The Policy Steering Committee, which consists of policy, capability and armament directors, will also meet twice during 2024. In addition, meetings will be held at military level between chiefs of defence and in the framework of the Military Coordination Committee.
Facts
All five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, participate in the Nordic defence cooperation, which was established in 2009. The one-year Chair rotates among the countries (except for Iceland).
NORDEFCO is a cooperation that involves both the military and political level and includes cooperation on training and exercises, logistics, international operations and defence equipment. The purpose of the cooperation is to strengthen the member states national defence as well as supporting effective shared defence solutions.
As chair, Denmark will lead the cooperation in 2024, with the Danish Ministry of Defence being responsible for coordinating NORDEFCO meetings at the policy level. In 2023, Sweden held the chair. In 2025, the role of chair will be passed on to Finland.
Read more: Nordic Defence Coorporation – Danish Ministry of Defence