Finland and Sweden want a stronger role for internal security actors in civilian crisis management

There is an increasing need for internal security expertise to plan and carry out civilian crisis management operations which aim at stabilising countries in conflict. This will be an effective way of preventing cross-border threats, such as the spread of organised crime, terrorism, human trafficking and uncontrolled migration.

The future of civilian crisis management of Finland and Sweden will be discussed at an international conference to be held in Helsinki on 15 February.

– Wars provide a fertile ground for crime and terrorism. In conflict areas, we must strive to stabilise crisis countries by strengthening their administration, police and judicial system. This will also improve European security. Our internal security authorities play a key role in this work. In this conference, we will discuss what more we could do and how better we could support fragile states, says Minister of the Interior Paula Risikko.

Finland and Sweden active in civilian crisis management

The conference will discuss how the role of internal security actors – such as police, judicial, border guard and migration authorities – could be strengthened in civilian crisis management. The aim is to give a boost to the further development of the EU civilian crisis management as part of the implementation of the EU Global Strategy. The future of civilian crisis management is an important question for Finland and Sweden because, in relation to their population, they are the top two EU countries that second civilian crisis management experts to EU operations.

The experts perform a range of duties including advice, observation and training in crisis areas. They work in operations and secretariats of the European Union, the United Nations, NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The conference will be attended by about 250 top-level civilian crisis management experts from different EU countries. The conference can be viewed live and it is available for viewing later as a recording at http://platform.goodmood.fi/goodmood/sisaministerio/crisismanagement. The conference programme can be found at the same address.

You can also take part in the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #CCMFuture.

Inquiries:
Laura Yli-Vakkuri, Director General, Finnish Ministry of the Interior, tel. +358 40 720 22 16, [email protected]
Anna-Carin Svensson, Director General, Swedish Ministry of Justice, tel. +46 70 302 17 74, [email protected]