Cooperation between the Nordic countries on international peacekeeping operations has been developing rapidly in recent years. They have cooperated on numerous joint peacekeeping activities under the auspieces of the UN, the OSCE, the EU, the Council of Europe and NATO.
All the Nordic countries became involved in UN peacekeeping operations at an early stage. The former Swedish Secretary-General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjøld, made a considerable contribution to the development of the concept, which incidentally is not referred to as such in the UN Charter.
To begin with, the Nordic countries participated individually, but they quickly joined forces in the field. By 1964 all the Nordic countries had established national UN emergency forces, which have since become part of the close operational and administrative coordination of Nordic cooperation in the UN.
Since the end of the Cold War, and the subsequent change in the European security situation, Nordic cooperation has accelerated. Two aspects of this change have been particularly relevant for Nordic security policy cooperation.
Firstly, the climate has changed so that many of the former limitations on Nordic cooperation have diseappeared. The Nordic countries are no longer so clearly divided in their external security policy orientation, and their different security affiliations no longer impose the same restrictions on cooperation within the Nordic region.
Secondly, matters relating to peacekeeping operations have shifted from the periphery to the main international security policy arena. This can be seen among other things in the emphasis NATO places on these matters.
Traditionally, defence cooperation between the Nordic countries has primarily consisted of training for UN service before forces are deployed. Since 1992, however, there has been significant growth in operational cooperation in the field, and well-integrated joint Nordic units have been developed in several places in the former Yugoslavia.
The first joint Nordic unit was the Swedish-Norwegian-Finnish Nordic Battalion (NORDBATT I) in Macedonia, which was established in January 1993. At its peak, the Norwegian contribution to this unit comprised more than 200 troops.
The Nordic countries have also cooperated extensively in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in NORDBATT II of UNPROFOR. NORDBATT II was based in Tuzla and from 1993 consisted of a Danish tank squadron, a Swedish infantry battalion with four companies and a Norwegian field hospital, Norwegian engineers and a Norwegian helicopter wing.
With the transfer from UN to NATO command in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 and the establishment of the Implementation Force (IFOR), later the Stabilisation Force (SFOR), Nordic cooperation in the former Sector North-East continued in a Nordic-Polish brigade within the US-led Multinational Division North.
In the summer of 1999, NATO deployed a UN-mandated peace-support operation (KFOR) in Kosovo in order to prevent further atrocities in the province. The Nordic NATO-members Denmark and Norway, but also Finland and Sweden contribute forces to KFOR. There are no joint forces in KFOR as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish forces are stationed in the British-led Multinational Brigade (MNB) Central. The Danish forces are stationed in MNB North.
Military cooperation between the Nordic countries in connection with the NATO and UN operations in the Balkans represents a milestone in Nordic cooperation on security policy. The Nordic countries have, for example, worked together in a NATO-led operation alongside former Warsaw Pact countries in a brigade under a US division.
The new Nordic focus on cooperation on peacekeeping operations, conflict prevention and international crisis management is not confined to military cooperation. One typical feature of the operations described here is that they have all involved close cooperation with humanitarian and civilian components. The Nordic countries, particularly Norway, Sweden and Denmark, have also made a substantial contribution in terms of police personnel for peacekeeping operations around the world.
But so far, no Nordic police force has been established to act as a joint Nordic police contigent in field operations. Cooperation in the field has been limited to a common language, culture, training and police experience.
The trend seems to be that closer Nordic cooperation on international peacekeeping operations has come to stay. However, these structures will not be taking precedence over the other foreign and security policy commitments of the respective countries. Their membership of organizations such as NATO, the EU, the OSCE and the UN will continue to define the limits of their cooperation.