An autumn meeting between the NORDEFCO Military Coordination Committee and Partners from the Baltic States concluded an eventful year 2020 of strengthened Nordic-Baltic defence cooperation.

The meeting took stock of the initiatives already established to enhance cooperation between NORDEFCO and the Baltic States. The participants also looked ahead at possibilities for further cooperation, for example within capability development. The Baltic States are already deeply involved in the work going on within NORDEFCO. At present all Cooperation Areas have some degree of cooperation with their Baltic colleagues. Additionally, the Baltic States are now represented in several Working Groups of the Cooperation Areas, for example on Veterans.

Among the results of the NORDEFCO-Baltic cooperation in 2020 is an agreement on exercise coordination between the Nordic and Baltic States in connection with the NATO exercise planning conference in November/December. In order to accommodate the increased cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic States it was also decided to add an additional Nordic-Baltic meeting to the yearly meeting schedule: A spring meeting will ensure quick consultation on decisions made at the Nordic and Baltic Chiefs of Defence meeting which usually takes place at the beginning of the year. As the Chairman of NORDEFCO in 2021 Finland has set the aim to continue enhancing the NORDEFCO cooperation and dialogue with the Baltic States.