Nordic, Baltic countries vow to cooperate in fight against terrorism

The eight Nordic and Baltic countries said on Friday that they will strengthen their cooperation to fight against terrorism and prevent violent extremism.

"We will continue to strengthen our resolve to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism, and ensure accountability for those responsible," foreign ministers of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden said in a joint statement.

Norway is chairing the Nordic-Baltic cooperation (NB8) in the area of foreign policy in 2017 and Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende hosted this year's meeting of the eight countries' foreign ministers in Oslo on Friday.

"The recent terrorist attacks on innocent people in Barcelona and Turku are appalling," the joint statement said. "We strongly condemn all terrorist attacks worldwide and stand united in the fight against terrorism."

"While the terrorist threat and spread of violent extremism in Europe and its neighborhoods continues to be high, we need even closer cooperation and exchange of information at all levels -- national, regional and global, to counter and prevent this threat," it said.

The Nordic-Baltic foreign ministers also voiced their support for the coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) and the United Nation's Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

"Our primary line of effort is to prevent radicalization, recruitment and mobilization of individuals into terrorist groups and address the evolving threat of foreign terrorist fighters and returnees as well as self-radicalized individuals," they said in the statement.

At the meeting, the foreign ministers discussed relations with Russia, transatlantic cooperation, issues relating to the UN and Europe, and security in the Nordic-Baltic region, according to a press release of the Norwegian government.

They agreed to boost efforts to further the women, peace and security agenda by holding an annual meeting on the topic. The first of these meetings will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in November this year.