Nordic defence cooperation, Nordefco
Over the past years, Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) among the five Nordic countries has significantly deepened especially through the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden.
Strengthened and comprehensive interaction among the Nordic countries is important for Finland, and defence cooperation is conducted within NORDEFCO in the fields of, among other, operational planning, defence policy dialogue, capability development, security of supply, defence industry reinforcement, as well as military mobility.
The key objective of Nordic Defence Cooperation is that the Nordic nations’ defence forces are capable as such and with allies to execute joint operations in all situations. Nordic Defence Cooperation supports and supplements NATO, and the nations capability to operate jointly strengthens the whole alliance. In NATO, the Nordic countries are part of the area of responsibility of the Joint Force Command Norfolk.
NORDEFCO was established in 2009, when the previous cooperation structures of the Nordic countries and practical cooperation were merged into one by a defence ministerial decision. The offensive of Russia in Ukraine and its resulting security situation change in Europe have substantially affected Nordic Defence Cooperation. Moreover, Finland and Sweden seeking NATO membership and Denmark deciding to participate in EU defence cooperation created the conditions for significant deepening of cooperation.
In NORDEFCO, chairmanship is rotated on a yearly basis among Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Finland served as the NORDEFCO chair nation in 2025 and will serve in this capacity again in 2029. The chair nation is responsible for leading and developing cooperation in accordance with the set long-term objectives of NORDEFCO. In 2025, the main focus of Finland’s chairmanship was on implementation of the political guiding document for defence cooperation of NORDEFCO, Vision 2030. The document sets out the framework for Nordic defence cooperation towards the year 2030. Additionally, Finland’s chairmanship also included, among other, updating the NORDEFCO Memorandum of Understanding on Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO MoU).
