At a meeting on Bornholm today, the Nordic foreign ministers decided to implement a number of measures to strengthen co-operation on assistance for Nordic nationals affected by emergencies abroad.

“I am pleased that we have agreed on a package of joint Nordic measures,” said Foreign Minister Jan Petersen. “We have strengthened our emergency response system since the tsunami disaster. Closer Nordic co-operation and better co-ordination will put us in a better position to assist Norwegian and other Nordic nationals.”

The measures are designed to equip the Nordic embassies and capitals with a set of practical tools for co-ordinating their efforts. They include co-operation in the following areas:

• Emergency response planning
• Providing consular services for each other’s nationals
• Joint transport home
• Exchange of information during emergencies
• Invitations to participate in emergency response courses and exercises held by the other countries. The Nordic embassies have been invited to participate in the exercise Barents Rescue in September.