On Tuesday 15 November and Wednesday 16 November, defence ministers and representatives of 13 countries - Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA - are meeting in Örebro to discuss common security issues and increased cooperation on defence.

Sweden currently chairs the Nordic Defence Cooperation (Nordefco) and is thus hosting three different meetings during the two days at Örebro Castle. There will be a Nordic defence minister meeting, a Nordic-Baltic meeting and a meeting of the Northern Group, which comprises most countries in northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic. The USA will also participate within the framework of Nordic-Baltic cooperation.

"It is great that Örebro can host the largest meeting of defence ministers in Sweden for a very long time, apart from during the Presidency of the EU. Regional cooperation in our region is very dynamic, which is something other European countries examine when they develop regional cooperation of their own," says Minister for Defence Sten Tolgfors.

On Tuesday 15 November, there will be a Nordic and a Nordic-Baltic meeting of defence ministers, as well as a dinner followed by a meeting of the Nordic-Baltic countries and the USA. In addition to Minister for Defence Sten Tolgfors, also participating in the three meetings are Norwegian defence minister Grete Faremo, Finnish defence minister Stefan Wallin, Danish defence minister Nick Haekkerup, Estonian defence minister Mart Laar, Latvian defence minister Artis Pabriks, and Lithuanian defence minister Rasa Jukneviciene. Iceland is being represented by Ambassador Gunnar Gunnarsson. From the USA, Assistant Secretary of Defence Alexander Vershbow is participating.

Among the issues that the Nordic ministers will discuss are increased defence cooperation and the possibility of increasing the capability and efficiency of armed forces through pooling and sharing. The possibility of increased Nordic cooperation in Afghanistan and veteran soldier issues will also be discussed.

The Nordic-Baltic meeting will continue to deal with enhanced cooperation on defence and veteran issues, discuss the opportunities of the armed forces to support civilian crisis management, and new threats and challenges that relate to IT security and energy security. In the meeting between the Nordic-Baltic countries and the USA, the security situation in Europe and defence reforms will be discussed.

On Wednesday 16 November, the ministers in the Northern Group will meet, during which Polish State Secretary Zbigniew Wlosowicz, UK Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond, Netherlands Minister of Defence Hans Hillen, and State Secretary Christian Schmidt of Germany will also participate. Topics for discussion include defence and security policy developments and issues related to how increased defence capability can be delivered via increased cooperation.

Sweden's defence must be well-prepared to be able to defend this country and to contribute to stability in the surrounding world. This requires a defence system that is adapted to today's threats and to the rapid sequences of events in which conflicts can arise and be determined. It requires a functional, available and flexible defence. For this reason, the Government is now setting a new direction for the Swedish defence system with a substantially strengthened defence capability.

• Press Release: A functional defence - with a substantially strengthened defence capability
• A functional defence, Summary of the bill submitted on March 19
• A functional defence

One of the EU objectives is to work for international peace and security. Consequently, the EU is cooperating in various ways in this area, including the capacity to implement joint operations, both military and civilian.
The Swedish Presidency will continue to develop the EU crisis management capability.

To learn more about the priorities of the Swedish Presidency, click on the link below.

• The Presidency website: www.se2009.eu