International defence cooperation

Swedish Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist and French Minister of Defence Florence Parly and ministers or delegations leaders from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy will hold a press briefing at Karlberg Castle, Stockholm, on Friday 24 September at 15.00.

On 18–19 September, the annual NATO Days and the Czech Air Force Days will be held in Ostrava. For the second time, Sweden will assume the role of Special Partner Nation at NATO Days. Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist will deliver the opening address at the event and also hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers from the Czech Republic and, Slovakia.

Today Peter Hultqvist, Minister for Defence of Sweden, and Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, signed a Joint Declaration on defence cooperation.

On 5 August, Swedish Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist met with British Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin in Stockholm. Current security policy issues and deepened Swedish-British defence research, capability and industrial collaboration were on the agenda.

On 30 June–1 July, Sweden’s Minister for Defence met his colleagues from the other member states of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) defence cooperation. During the ministerial meeting in Helsinki, Finland, they officially signed the JEF Policy Direction document, which sets key principles for further cooperation.

On 29–30 June, the defence ministers of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, met in Tuusula just north of Helsinki, within the framework of the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO). The deteriorated regional security situation and further enhanced cooperation was the focus of discussions during the first physical NORDEFCO ministerial meeting since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The defence ministers of the Northern Group, a security and defence policy forum, took part in a video conference on 9 June. The security situation in northern Europe was the main item on the agenda.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s 2021 Spring Session, hosted by the Swedish Riksdag, opened today with introductory remarks from Sweden’s Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist. He emphasised the importance of transatlantic relations to the security of Europe, and how Russia is challenging the European security order.

A first meeting has taken place in a digital format between Sweden’s Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist and his Estonian counterpart, the new Minister of Defence Kalle Laanet. Among the items on the agenda were the security situation in the neighbourhood and development of the bilateral defence cooperation between Sweden and Estonia.

On 7 April, the Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist, together with defence ministers from several other participating countries, took part in an international digital meeting on Task Force Takuba, a multinational special forces task force to which Sweden is contributing a 150-strong unit.

A bilateral meeting via video link was held on 16 November between Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist and Portugal’s Minister of National Defence João Gomes Cravinho. The agenda included regional security, the Sahel and bilateral cooperation.

Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist attended a meeting of NATO defence ministers on 18 June concerning the affect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Alliance’s members and partner countries. The meeting was also attended by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, as well as the defence ministers of Finland and Australia.

On 18 June, Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist met German Minister of Defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the defence ministers of the Nordic countries via video link. From Denmark Minister of Defence Trine Bramsen took part, from Norway Minister of Defence Frank Bakke-Jensen and from Finland Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen.