The foreign ministers of the Nordic and Baltic countries met in Visby on Gotland for the first time as equal members of the defense alliance NATO. The main theme of the meeting was supporting Ukraine.
VISBY Joint ministerial meetings of the Nordic and Baltic countries have been held since the 1990s, i.e. since the breakup of the Soviet Union, but this time’s meeting of foreign ministers in Visby, Gotland, was historic. Now all eight countries belong to the defense alliance NATO, the last being Finland and Sweden.
And the choice of the venue for the meeting, i.e. Visby in Gotland, was also strategic from the Swedish presidency. Gotland has been called an unsinkable air base. It has also been said: whoever rules Gotland rules the entire Baltic Sea.
Sweden sometimes abolished the garrison on Gotland, but now the army is returning to the island with more and more force, which annoys Russia.
Yesterday, Tuesday, a Swedish Defense Forces fighter followed Russian machinewhich flew very close to Gotland.
Ukrainian support dominated the meeting
The war started by Russia in Ukraine dominated the agenda of the two-day meeting of foreign ministers.
The message of all eight countries was the same as that of the foreign minister Elina Valtonen (collect.).
– The support of all our countries here for Ukraine is very solid. A few of us, like Finland, have made a longer-term security commitment to Ukraine. But we all agree that this acute situation is also very important. That’s why we have to deliver all the possible defense material aid that can only be delivered once and for all to Ukraine.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström on the initiative, the countries are now also establishing a high-level expert group, whose task is to help Ukraine become a member of the EU. A long-term EU commissioner will join the group from Sweden Cecilia Malmström.
In Visby, almost all foreign ministers were also concerned about the situation in Belarus. It is already clearly within Russia’s sphere of influence, but the ministers think it should be possible to ensure that the country does not slip into a sub-state against the will of the people. Looking at the map, you can understand especially the concern of the Baltic countries about Belarus.
Swedish public broadcasting company SVT published the news on Tuesdayaccording to which a tanker bound for Latvia is anchored outside Gotland and distributes fuel from it to old and dilapidated Russian oil tankers.
According to Billström, Sweden plans to bring the matter to the EU’s attention partly because it may be about evading sanctions against Russia, partly because there is an obvious environmental risk associated with oil transport ships in poor condition.