Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Denmark signed a memorandum of cooperation in Stockholm this week after two days of meetings on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Swedish Ministry of Defense said experience from Ukraine has shown that temporary movements of populations enable the continued defense of the country while protecting the civilian population. 

The countries, which are all members of NATO, want to improve their preparedness for "major crises and military threats and jointly plan how to organize cross-border movement and evacuation if necessary," a statement from Estonia's Ministry of the Interior said.

Estonian Minister of the Interior Igor Taro (Eesti 200) said the agreement is based on the understanding that modern crises do not stop at national borders.

"Crises and threats spread quickly, and their impact does not remain within a country's borders. That is why cross-border cooperation in population protection is inevitable. This memorandum provides countries with a common framework that enables them to act quickly and in a coordinated manner in crisis situations, protecting people while maintaining the functioning of states," he said.

The agreement focuses on preparedness for situations in which people may begin moving across national borders spontaneously because of a crisis, the minister explained.

"Estonia is not planning to evacuate its residents to other countries. At the same time, we consider it realistic that in a crisis people may cross borders on their own initiative. Our task is to be ready for this: to cooperate with neighboring countries, exchange information оперативно and ensure that such movement is as safe and manageable as possible," he stressed.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania signed a similar agreement amongst themselves in June 2025. The new agreement expands cooperation to the entire Baltic Sea and Nordic region.

Next steps

The agreement was signed in Stockholm following a high-level meeting on March 3-4 held at the initiative of Sweden and Finland.

Representatives of Baltic Sea countries discussed the next steps following the signing of the cooperation memorandum, focusing on population protection and cross-border cooperation in crises.

Estonia's Deputy Secretary General for Crisis Preparedness and Population Protection at the Ministry of the Interior Tuuli Räim presented the activities carried out so far under the memorandum of cooperation signed by the three Baltic states last June.

"Events of recent years and the security situation in Europe have shown that no country can cope with major crises alone. That is why it is important that we cooperate and coordinate our activities across the entire Baltic Sea region," she said.

"This helps us ensure the safety of residents even in the most complex situations. Common principles and functioning cross-border solutions provide assurance that in a crisis we can act quickly, thoughtfully, and with consideration for people's needs," the official added.

Räim said the Baltic states are already using a joint platform to plan large-scale evacuations and cross-border movement and are also taking part in each other's crisis exercises.

The deputy secretary general said joint civil and military planning is also very important, and this has been significantly strengthened in Estonia in recent years.

"Such planning and cooperation need to be expanded across the entire Baltic Sea region, because we are NATO members and neighbors whose security depends on one another," Räim stressed, adding the memorandum underlines this commitment.

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