Raimonds Oškalns, director of the Security Policy Department at the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “Nordic and Baltic countries are linked not only by their geographic location and shared values, but also a common understanding of current security challenges. Finland’s NATO membership as well as Sweden’s upcoming accession to the Alliance offer an opportunity to significantly expand the Nordic-Baltic defence cooperation potential.”
At the meeting, attention was paid to cooperation within NATO in preparation for next summer’s summit in Washington, as well as to the growing role of the EU in the field of security.
Another topic on the agenda was the need to strengthen support for Ukraine in the long term. All NB8 countries have joined the G7 joint declaration on long-term support for Ukraine, pledging to provide it with long-term political, military, economic and financial support.
The NB8 (Nordic–Baltic Eight) cooperation format comprises Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. in January, Latvia took over coordination in the NB8 format for the year.