Nordic summit
Parliamentary envoys, ministers, members of opposition parties and leading public figures from the Nordic countries will be gathering in Helsinki from 30 October to 1 November 2012 for the 64th session of the Nordic Council, otherwise known as the Nordic summit.
This year's summit will also mark the 60th anniversary of the Nordic Council of Ministers. In celebration, the council will be publishing a book on the future of cooperation in the Nordic countries. The book will be officially presented on 29 October, followed by a debate among the parliamentary envoys on the topics it covers. The book can be considered a follow-up to the analyses on Nordic cooperation that have been released in recent years: the Stoltenberg report issued in 2009; and 'United Nordic Federation' by Swedish social scientist Gunnar Wetterberg, which generated an unprecedented level of feedback upon its release in 2010.
The offices of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will also be presenting a book at the summit – 'More is better: Nordic-Baltic cooperation 1991-2031'. The book includes commentary from experts in their fields, setting out their personal views on the future of cooperation between the regions in the coming years in the areas of IT and science, the green and creative economies, demographics, gender equality and regional cooperation.
Other events taking place during the summit include:
- a meeting of Nordic and Baltic prime ministers on 29 October; and
- the gala awards ceremony of the Nordic Council of Ministers on 31 October, at which prizes to the value of 350,000 Danish kroner will be presented in the categories of film, literature, music and the environment.
Key topics of summit
- Border obstacles: problems and how to solve them
- Appointment of the first Ombudsman for Freedom of Movement of the Nordic countries
- The situation in the Arctic
- The problems of the welfare state model of the Nordic countries: demographics, financing and migration (to be discussed by the prime ministers of the Nordic countries)
The overall theme of the summit will be the financial crisis. You can find more information about the summit here.
Attending the summit from the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia will be director Berth Sundström and communications adviser Triin Oppi (e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / mobile: +372 52 13 226).