Joint statement, Nordic-Baltic Summit at Harpsund

We are determined to shoulder our responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security as we face grave security threats and challenges. We are united by a shared perception of threats and readiness to do what is needed to counter them. The transatlantic bond is indispensable, and we will increase our collective efforts to keep ourselves and all our Allies safe.

We will strengthen our support to Ukraine. Our countries are the largest per-capita contributors of military assistance to Ukraine and our support will not waver. Ukraine must be able to prevail against Russia’s aggression, to ensure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. In the coming months, we will step up our support, including to the Ukrainian defence industry, and we will invest in making more ammunition available to Ukraine. Ukraine’s courage and resilience will be backed by strong and steadfast support by our countries whereby military assistance is an integral part. We encourage others to do the same.

We support the Ukrainian Victory Plan. We are committed to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine, and its full European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to our security in the long term. Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and increasing use of hybrid actions have shattered peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and gravely undermine global security. We will work together to constrain, contest and counter Russia’s aggressive and highly confrontational actions as well as to ensure its full international accountability for the crime of aggression. Together with our Allies, we are committed to strengthening our deterrence, and defence, including resilience, against conventional as well as hybrid attacks, and to expanding sanctions against Russia as well as against those who enable Russia’s aggression, thus threatening our common security.

We are determined to further strengthen our collective security and defence, 
and shoulder our responsibility for peace and security in Europe. We have made significant investments in strengthening our armed forces, with Poland leading the way. We will continue on this path, including by increasing our national defence budgets, in the years to come. Europe as a whole must take greater responsibility for its own security, thereby reinforcing its role as a credible and reliable actor and partner in the area of security and defence. We reiterate our enduring commitment to NATO’s deterrence and defence, and to prioritising defence spending. Expenditure beyond two per cent of GDP is urgently needed to meet NATO’s capability targets, ensuring the execution of defence plans, and demonstrating European commitment to investing robustly in defence.

We are committed to deepening regional cooperation, and to strengthening 
security and resilience in the Baltic Sea Region and the High North. Ties 
between our countries are closer than ever, and with all our countries now 
members of NATO, we will work even more closely together. This Summit is 
an expression of this commitment