Avsiktsförklaring om militär rörlighet mellan Sverige och övriga nordiska länder

Letter of Intent

between

the Ministry of Defence of Denmark

and

the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Finland on behalf of the

Government of the Republic of Finland

and

the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland

and

the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway

and

the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden

concerning

the Establishment of harmonized Military Mobility Corridors between

their five nations

The Ministry of Defence of Denmark, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Finland on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Finland, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway and the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden, hereinafter referred to as “the Participants”,

Defining Military Mobility as the capacity to move military forces rapidly and efficiently from one location to another including the logistical support and infrastructure capabilities, regulatory frameworks, and coordinated procedures needed to transport troops, equipment, material and supplies;

Recognising that effective Military Mobility for seamless military operations is essential for regional stability and deterrence, both in peacetime and crisis;

Recognising that in light of the worsened security situation following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the establishment of harmonized corridors for Military Mobility in Europe is more critical than ever;

Defining “harmonized corridor” as a specific route for Allied forces between the five countries with minimized bureaucratic hurdles in peace-time and maximum executability in crisis and conflict;

Convinced that the objectives outlined in this Letter of Intent align closely with NATO's priorities as well as arrangements and Memoranda of Understanding between the participants, of ensuring collective defence, improving rapid response capabilities, and enhancing interoperability among member nations and contribute to a burden sharing among Participants as Allies;

Convinced that this endeavour will facilitate the deployment and redeployment of assets already under peace-time conditions, thereby providing a robust and agile response mechanism to counter potential threats and strengthen our collective security framework;

Acknowledging that currently the effectiveness of Military Mobility is inhibited by national exceptions, limitations, extensive and differing administrative requirements and timelines;

Acknowledging that the goals and initiatives outlined in this Letter of Intent must be synchronized with the achievements of established PESCO projects

and EDA initiatives and the objectives stated in the European Union’s Action Plan on Military Mobility 2.0, also to avoid redundancies and have the single-set-of forces, hence capabilities, in mind; Noting that this Letter of Intent is not a legally binding commitment between the Participants under national or international law; Encouraging other nations to subsequently participate or set up similar corridors and thereby contribute to enhancing Military Mobility in Europe, also as a sign to enhance EU-NATO cooperation; The Participants intend to collaborate on establishing harmonized corridors for Military Mobility across their nations' territories with the following objectives: 1. In the Field of Cross-Border Movement Regulations, a. strive to harmonise the information exchange requirements; b. strive to unify forms and templates required to be filled by transiting nations; c. identify solutions to centralize and simplify the cross-border movement process, for instance Road Movement Bids and Road Movement Clearances; d. examine the possibilities to minimize convoy escort requirements; e. investigate possibilities to remove limitations for military convoy driving hours; f. strive to simplify and harmonize customs handling procedures; g. strive to unify military vehicle and convoy markings; h. identify solutions to harmonize rules for military convoy compositions in order to allow for more flexibility; i. as applicable, identify possibilities of giving military express trains priority over civilian trains in order to expedite the cross-border movement process; j. strive to simplify procedures for military personnel border-crossing;

k. strive to identify additional topics to simplify and harmonize cross-border movement regulations for Military Mobility;

l. Strive to implement the objectives of the EU Action Plan on Military Mobility 2.0 and NATO requirements concerning Military Mobility.

2. In the Field of Tracking and Coordination of commonly used Movement Assets, a. identify potential solutions to track the availability of limited movement assets such as rail cars for heavy military equipment;

b. strive to set guidelines for the use of limited available movement assets;

c. examine options to efficiently pool and share limited available movement assets;

d. strive to make surplus transport capabilities available.

3. In the Field of Information Exchange Processes and Interoperability a. strive to enable seamless and direct communication between national movement coordination centres;

b. identify options to effectively utilize already established solutions like the Logistics Functional Area Services (LOGFAS);

c. explore possibilities to scale already established national solutions to other Allies and partners;

d. examine the chances and effects of current and future information exchange systems;

e. identify solutions for real-time convoy tracking and information sharing.

4. In the Field of Infrastructure Development Synchronization, a. strive to synchronize the development of cross-border Military Mobility infrastructure in order to enable seamless movements between the nations;

b. strive to develop a network of logistic infrastructure alongside movement corridors;

c. explore funding mechanisms that can be utilized for infrastructure development related to the harmonized corridor for Military Mobility;

d. strive to identify existing gaps on the corridors and investigate possibilities to implement mitigation measures to overcome existing hurdles or possibilities to upgrade identified bottlenecks up to military standards.

The Participants further intend to set up a working group with appointed representatives to

• develop solutions within a time period of 18 month,

• monitor and periodically evaluate the outlined initiatives

• prepare reports (intermediate and final).

By signing below, the Participants express their unequivocal commitment to the establishment of harmonized corridors for Military Mobility and promote the concept of the corridors to other nations. The implementation of this Letter of Intent will be subject to Participants´ national legislation and applicable procedures.

Signed in Copenhagen on

For the Ministry of Defence of Denmark _____________________________________________ Troels Lund Poulsen Minister of Defence of Denmark For the Government of the Republic of Finland _____________________________________________ Antti Häkkänen Minister of Defence of Finland For the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland _____________________________________________ Martin Eyjólfsson Permanent Secretary of State

For the Ministry of Defence of Norway

_____________________________________________ Bjørn Arild Gram Minister of Defence of Norway

For the Ministry of Defence of Sweden

_____________________________________________ Pål Jonson Minister of Defence of Sweden