Nordic ministers of the interior discuss the gradual opening of borders

On Friday 12 June, Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo will chair the meeting of the Nordic ministers of the interior. The meeting will discuss the current impact of the coronavirus outbreak on border traffic. The meeting will be held as a video conference.

The Nordic ministers will provide an overview of the current border related decisions in each country and express their views on how the restrictions can be gradually dismantled.

On 11 June, the Finnish Government outlined that border control will continue partially at internal borders and that external border traffic will be restricted until 14 July 2020. Finland will lift internal border controls for certain countries. These include Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The restrictions will continue to the extent that they are considered necessary due to the serious threat posed by the epidemiological situation. The Government will review the situation in two weeks' time.

The meeting will also discuss the long-term effects that the coronavirus pandemic may have on the internal security of the Nordic countries.

– It is clear that the pandemic will affect our societies in many ways for a long time to come. However, the development of internal security, the level of preparedness and the threat of organised crime must be examined separately. It is also worth assessing whether the changes are temporary or long-term in nature, says Minister Ohisalo.

With the pandemic, the role of the Nordic cooperation and dialogue has only been emphasised in importance. The two previous video conferences of the ministers of the interior have proved very useful.

Inquiries:

Laura Yli-Vakkuri, Director General, tel. +358 40 720 2216, [email protected]
Jarno Lappalainen, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 40 053 6973, [email protected]