politics
The Nordics to Prepare a Joint Defence Cooperation Agreement
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland have agreed to start developing a Nordic defence cooperation agreement. The aim is to facilitate even closer integration of the defence forces and strengthen NATO's deterrence and defence.
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The Nordic ministers of defence have met in Oslo this week to review the status of Nordic defence cooperation within the framework of NORDEFCO – and, not least, discuss how this cooperation can be further developed.
On Thursday, they agreed to draw up a Nordic defence cooperation agreement.
"The ambition is to develop a defence cooperation agreement that will enable Nordic military forces to operate even more effectively and seamlessly together across borders in the Nordic region. This will collectively give us greater defence capability and make the Nordic region and Norway safer," says Norwegian Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik (Labor) in a press release.
"With an agreement on defence cooperation, we will be able to take our Nordic cooperation to a new level and demonstrate that we are assuming even greater responsibility for our regional security, thereby contributing to NATO's deterrence and defence," adds Denmark's Minister of Defence Jeppe Bruus (S).
Potential for removing practical obstacles
In recent years, Nordic defense cooperation has been increasingly deepened under the NATO umbrella.
In December 2025, all the Nordic countries were brought together under NATO Joint Force Command Norfolk in Virginia, USA. NATO has also established new regional headquarters in the Nordic region for land operations (Mikkeli, Finland) and air operations (Bodø, Northern Norway), as well as a forward land force in Lapland, Northern Finland.
The Nordic Air Forces in particular have made major progress in their ability to fight together as one.
“In the Nordic region, we have around 250 modern combat aircraft, nearly 145 surface vessels and some 100,000 military personnel in peacetime. We have already come a long way within the framework of NATO. We exercise and train together more than ever before. Now we want to take cooperation a step further,” says Sandvik.
A key point at the meeting was the need for a strengthened legal and political framework in order to realise a new level of ambition for cooperation in peace, crisis and war.
“The feedback from the Nordic chiefs of defence is that the operational cooperation is good. At the same time, we see potential to remove practical obstacles, and adapt laws and regulations to make it possible to operate even more smoothly across national borders. This is something we will examine more closely as we develop the new defence cooperation agreement going forward,” the Norwegian defence minister states.
Additional meeting attendees
The Nordic chiefs of defence also took part in the ministerial meeting in Oslo. So did the new Commander of JFC Norfolk, General Nick Perry.
The Nordic ministers of defence also met with their ministerial colleagues responsible for civil security and preparedness. This combined the NORDEFCO and Haga cooperation formats. The ministers shared views on how the Nordic countries can further strengthen civil-military cooperation and build more resilient societies.
In addition, the defence ministers attended the UK-led Atlantic Future Forum, which brought together leaders in defence, security and technology aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, which recently operated in the north.
