MFA: Minister Blomqvist to Nordic conference on Faeroe Islands to discuss experiences during COVID-19 pandemic

The conference is hosted by the Government of the Faeroe Islands. The aim is to strengthen a joint Nordic analysis of what we can learn from Nordic cooperation during the pandemic and how this cooperation should be further developed to prepare for future crises.

“It is important to talk together about the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Closed borders between the Nordic countries have drawn a lot of attention - and for a good reason. Free movement is one of the cornerstones of Nordic cooperation and our Nordic community, and closing the borders has hit hard especially the people living in the border regions. The citizens of the Nordic countries must be able to trust that everyday living across the borders runs smoothly,” Minister Blomqvist says.

Minister Blomqvist will participate in a panel discussion on the consequences and lessons learned from the coronavirus crisis. As Finland holds the Nordic Council of Ministers Presidency this year, Minister Blomqvist will also summarise the discussions at the conference.

“The focus during Finland’s Presidency has been to look ahead and learn from the coronavirus crisis.The pandemic has reminded us that we can all benefit from cooperation. The Nordic countries are simply stronger together. This is an important insight that we must make use of and put into practice in the form of even deeper and closer cooperation,” Minister Blomqvist says.

Also present at the conference will be Ministers for Nordic Cooperation, President of the Nordic Council Bertel Haarder, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers Paula Lehtomäki and health sector experts, including Anders Tegnell, the State Epidemiologist of Sweden, and WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge, who will attend the conference virtually. Minister Jan-Erik Enestam from Finland will also attend the conference and speak about the results of a study on cooperation during the crisis period, commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Read the conference agenda at https://www.ummr.fo/corona-i-norden

Inquiries:

Johan Schalin, Chief of the Secretariat for Nordic Cooperation, tel. +358 295 351 781, firstname.lastname@formin.fi.

Carolina Nordling, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 295 150 278, firstname.lastname@gov.fi.

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi