Finland, Sweden boost police co-op at borders

Finland and Sweden signed an agreement on police cooperation at the border area in Tornionlaakso with the view to step up police cooperation between the neighbouring countries.

Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo and her Swedish counterpart Mikael Damberg signed the agreement in Tornio on Tuesday, said Ministry of the Interior in a press release.

The agreement is applied in Finland in the territories of the municipalities of Enontekiö, Kolari, Muonio, Pello, Tornio and Ylitornio.

In Sweden, the agreement is applied in the territories of the municipalities of Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala and Övertorneå.

“Finland and Sweden have a long tradition of police cooperation. Now the aim is to further improve cooperation between the authorities and provide better access to urgent assistance in areas where cross-border interaction and cooperation are very close anyway,” said Ohisalo.

The agreement is applied only in urgent situations and it contains mainly two types of cooperation: measures carried out on request and without a request.

A request can be made to the neighbouring country if urgent assistance is needed to prevent a serious criminal offence involving danger to the life, health or physical integrity of an individual. Such serious offences include rape, aggravated assault and homicide. However, the parties may also deny the request.

Assistance may also be provided to the neighbouring country without a separate request. In other words, police officers may cross the national border and take provisional measures in the border area to combat serious offences such as those mentioned above. This applies only if there is a risk that the danger will materialise before the host country’s police arrive.

Police officers operating in the territory of another country under the agreement must act in compliance with the host country’s legislation and within the limits of their powers under national legislation.

The agreement also lays down provisions on criminal and civil liability and the liability for costs.

The Nordic police authorities have been engaged in practical crime prevention cooperation for decades.

Cooperation is based on international agreements, EU law and the national legislation of each country, and it is carried out at both strategic and operational level. Cooperation between the Nordic police authorities is effective and regular.

The border area between Finland and Sweden is an exceptional border area between the states, as the urban structure of the area does not respect national borders (the Tornio-Haparanda area) and cross-border interaction and cooperation in different areas of life is very close in general.

The agreement now signed is a legally binding treaty. After the signing of the agreement, a government proposal will be prepared asking Parliament to adopt the agreement and containing a bill on bringing into force the provisions of a legislative nature in the agreement.

In addition, the relevant contents of the national legislation must be brought into harmony with the agreement.