The Nordic and Baltic countries have appointed former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to prepare an independent report with policy recommendations to advance Nordic-Baltic security and defense cooperation.
Former NATO chief Stoltenberg, whose term ended in October 2024 after running the alliance for 10 years, has been appointed by the Nordic and Baltic countries to write a report on military defense and measures to counter sabotage and hybrid threats.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said Stoltenberg will analyze and present recommendations to enhance regional cooperation and further strengthen the region's deterrence and defense.
"The report will primarily focus on military defence, but also measures to counter Russian sabotage and other hybrid threats," said the statement.
According to the statement, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson believes that with the Nordic-Baltic region now fully integrated into NATO, there is an opportunity to advance collaboration even further.
"Fully harnessing the new Nordic-Baltic potential for enhanced regional cooperation strengthens both the region and NATO as a whole."
Stoltenberg mentioned that for the first time in history, all the Nordic and Baltic countries are members of the same military alliance.
"That brings new opportunities, and this report is an important initiative in order to deepen defence and security cooperation in our region."
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who also chairs the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) format in 2025, said the Nordic-Baltic region is facing a more serious security situation.
The report is scheduled to be presented ahead of the NATO Summit in The Hague in June 2025.
Earlier on Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced a new mission, Baltic Sentry, to safeguard critical undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region.
Separately, NATO posted a photo of the vessels in the Baltic Sea on X on Wednesday, a day after the Vessel Finder service reported that two NATO ships were sailing in the Gulf of Finland.
The Baltic Sea has been the scene of several high-profile infrastructure incidents since the onset of Russia's war on Ukraine in February 2022, which heightened tensions in the region.
Most recently, Finland reported that the Eagle S tanker had been detained in connection with the subsea cable damage incident that occurred on Christmas Day.
Last November, two telecommunications cables linking Sweden and Denmark were severed. Authorities suspect the Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3, which sailed over the cables, while China denied Sweden's request to investigate the ship.
The Arelion submarine cable, which connects the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania, and the C-Lion 1 submarine communications cable that runs between Finland's capital Helsinki and Germany's Rostock city were also damaged in mid-November near Sweden's territorial waters.
European officials have suggested that sabotage could be behind the recent disruptions, potentially linked to Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine. But the Kremlin has rejected the claims, calling them "absurd."
The September 2022 explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe remain unresolved, underscoring the region's vulnerability to undersea attacks on key infrastructure.
Authorities across the Baltic region continue to investigate these incidents amid heightened vigilance as geopolitical tensions show no sign of abating.
