Foreign Minister Tuomioja participated in a foreign minister meeting between 12 countries in Gdańsk
On 20 February, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja participated in a joint meeting of foreign ministers of the Visegrad, Nordic and Baltic states held at the very heart of the Old Town of Gdańsk, Poland.
The main purpose of this ‘V4-NB8’ meeting was to consider common policies regarding the relations with the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in particular. During the discussion, Foreign Minister Tuomioja referred to the EU’s Northern Dimension policy, developed on Finnish initiative. According to him, the good experiences from the Northern Dimension, by which partners can be encouraged to take active part in cooperation, could be applied to Eastern Partnership as well.
The Ministers also discussed the opportunities for closer security and defence cooperation and the directions of the EU energy and transport policy.
The Visegrad Group (V4) countries include Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, while the NB8 states are Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The NB8 cooperation began in 1991, and the V4 cooperation was launched the very same year.
The meeting of V4-NB8 foreign ministers was the first of its kind. The next meeting will probably be in Estonia.