The governments of Finland and Sweden met for the first time in 15 years. This time the topics were more serious than last time.
It was 9:56 on Monday morning when the meeting between the governments of Finland and Sweden began.
– This must be a very Swedish and Finnish meeting, because we are ahead of schedule, said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and made the ministers laugh with his opening words.
The start time of the meeting was marked at 10 o’clock. Kristersson started his speech in Swedish, but switched to English after a few words. English was used as the working language of the meeting and in many ministerial visits during the day. The media was allowed to follow the beginning of the meeting for 35 seconds.
The last intergovernmental meeting was held in 2009. Alexander Stubb, who served as foreign minister at the time and is now the president of the republic, told Iltalehti that the meeting is about having fun. THE ARKISTO 15.5.2009
The last time the boards met as a whole was in 2009 in Hämeenlinna. The timing of the meeting had a symbolic meaning: at that time, exactly 200 years had passed since the Finnish war, in which Finland passed from Sweden to Russia.
At that time, according to Alexander Stubb, the then foreign minister and the current president of the republic, it was about “having fun”.
Even though this time the meeting started in a friendly atmosphere, the list of topics was serious: for example, the NATO base and the situation in Ukraine.
The most important topic about the NATO base
The governments made a joint declaration on cooperation between the countries. In the 12-page declaration, cooperation is reviewed in areas such as supporting Ukraine, the welfare of children and young people, and energy policy. You can read the entire declaration in Finnish here.
Two cooperation policies were also signed during the day. The first concerned the development of cooperation related to security of supply. The purpose is to develop and concretize the cooperation between the countries in terms of security of supply. The cooperation policy was signed by Minister of Economy Wille Rydman (ps) and Swedish Minister of Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin.
The second cooperation line concerned civil preparedness and preparedness. The purpose is to strengthen cooperation regarding the protection of the civilian population. The line was signed by the Minister of Transport, Communications and the Interior, Lulu Ranne (ps), together with the Swedish Minister of Civil Defence.
However, the biggest issue at the Finnish and Swedish government meeting was the future NATO base in Finland. On Monday, it became clear that Sweden will become a so-called framework country and the country will manage the Finnish NATO base.
This is how the ministerial portfolios of Sweden and Finland differ from each other
There are a larger number of ministers in Sweden than in Finland: 24, in Finland 18. Finland currently has one less minister than usual, as Lulu Ranne serves not only in the position of interior minister in place of Mari Rantanen (ps), but also in her own ministerial position as minister of transport and communications.
In general terms, the portfolios of ministers in Finland and Sweden correspond to each other, but there are also differences.
Sweden’s larger number of ministers means ministerial portfolios limited to smaller areas. For example, two different people are responsible for the work of the Minister of Education in Sweden: the Minister of Education and the Minister of Schools. While Finland has a Minister of Social Affairs and Health and a Minister of Social Security, Sweden has four different ministers for this area.
The current Swedish government does not have an interior minister at all, but the tasks are divided between different portfolios. The inclusion of the interior minister’s portfolio in the government is quite rare in Sweden and historically mostly only used by social democratic governments.
In Sweden, the title of deputy prime minister is also used. Although in both countries the replacement of the prime minister is managed according to the same formula, in Finland there is no talk of a deputy prime minister.
The ministers got to know Stockholm’s Värtan port. Years Emilia Alentola
A large crowd at the port
The program of the Finnish and Swedish government meeting included visits between the respective ministers. The largest visit in terms of ministers was in Stockholm’s Värtahamnenin, Värtani port. The place is familiar to Finns as the port of the Swedish ship Tallink Silja.
From the Finnish side, Minister of Transport, Communications and the Interior Lulu Ranne (ps), Minister of Justice Leena Meri (ps) and Minister of Finance Riikka Purra (ps) were present at the port. From Sweden, the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Andreas Carlson, Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer, Minister of Immigration Johan Forssell, Minister of Finance Elisabeth Svantesson and Minister of Financial Markets Niklas Wykman were opposite.
The visit included a review of the preparedness of infrastructure areas, cross-border crime and border security. The part organized by Swedish customs focused on going through the situation of drug smuggling and money laundering in the border areas.
In its section, Tulli showed a news picture of a gang shooting and reminded that the background of gang violence is, among other things, a power struggle over the drug trade.
Minister of Finance Riikka Purra (ps) in the port of Värtani. Years Emilia Alentola
“We are not blue-eyed”
Iltalehti previously wrote about the recruitment of children for gang showdowns on social media. Mainly children are hired from Sweden to be sent to Denmark to carry out gang attacks. In one of the announcements seen by Iltalehti, it is promised that there will be jobs in Finland as well.
Both Finnish and Swedish ministers commented on the matter to Iltalehti. Finland’s Minister of the Interior, Lulu Ranne, said that the matter is known both in the ministry and the police.
– This is a long-term, very harsh development, but Finland still has opportunities to get the situation under control, said Ranne.
He highlighted the government’s investments in combating gang and youth crime, as well as school police resources.
– We take this very seriously in the government, and we are not blue-eyed at all. This is a dire situation. It’s not just that we have a professional operation that recruits young people in schools and on the streets. Yes, even adults must strive to ensure that we parents know where our children are and what is up to them, Ranne said.
The discussion and visit program took place in English. Years Emilia Alentola
Strömmer contacted Finland
– Very serious, but not surprising, commented the Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer on the recruitment notices of the gangs, which talk about jobs in Finland.
– For me, this only underlines the importance of increasing cooperation – and not least between our police authorities, Strömmer said.
In August, Strömmer visited Denmark to meet with the country’s Minister of Justice to discuss child recruitment and attacks by children. Strömmer now said that before the meeting he had been in contact with Mari Rantase (ps), who was still serving as interior minister at the time.
– I told Rantanen that many of these questions to be discussed with Denmark and Sweden [koskien lapsia ja jengejä] must be discussed among all Nordic governments.
Strömmer said that the topic will be brought to the table on Friday, September 20, when the justice ministers of the Nordic countries meet in Uppsala, Sweden. Finland is represented at the meeting by the State Secretary instead of the Minister of Justice.
In the port, the ministers got to know, among other things, the activities of Swedish customs. Customs talked about organized crime and border security. Years Emilia Alentola
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