NordenBladet —
“The changed geopolitical situation has created a situation where the parliaments of the NB8 countries need to communicate on more issues than they have done so far. It is important to promote cooperation in areas where the impact extends beyond national borders. The cooperation between the committees of the NB8 parliaments deserves a solid structure,” Hussar said, and added that the closer we were connected and the more we agreed on various issues, the stronger we would be.
According to the President of the Riigikogu, more cooperation is needed in the areas of economy, artificial intelligence, and energy. He noted that it would be better to tackle one topic at a time in order to address it more thoroughly and share experiences. His counterparts from other NB8 parliaments also highlighted issues like the school network, cross-border connectivity, and migration.
The meeting showed that the Speakers considered closer cooperation between parliamentary committees to be important and would continue consultations in their parliaments to identify areas where cooperation was most needed. It was noted that the committee systems were quite different and that some parliaments were undergoing changes in this regard, but this would not prevent cooperation or finding common issues. The Speakers will continue their discussion on this topic at the Conference of Speakers of the EU Parliaments in Copenhagen in May.
The Foreign Affairs Committee, the National Defence Committee, and the European Union Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu already cooperate with committees of other parliaments in the Nordic Countries and the Baltic States, and the Finance Committees also exchange experiences and knowledge with each other.
In addition to Hussar, Søren Gade from the Parliament of Denmark, Jussi Halla-aho from the Parliament of Finland, Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir from the Parliament of Iceland, Juozas Olekas form the Parliament of Lithuania, Masud Gharahkhani from the Parliament of Norway, and Andreas Norlén from the Parliament of Sweden attended today’s video meeting of the Speakers.
Photos (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)
Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592; +372 510 6179
merilin.kruuse@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee
Link uudisele: Nordic and Baltic Speakers want to strengthen parliamentary cooperation in areas with cross-border impact
Source: Parliament of Estonia