The nations of Northern Europe will create joint exit plans after Ukraine – National
Ten countries in northern Europe have agreed to prepare for the evacuation of citizens crossing borders in the event of a crisis or military conflict in the region, with the aim of learning lessons from the war in Ukraine, Sweden said on Wednesday.
The 10 will jointly prepare plans covering transportation, border control, travel corridors and other issues.
Germany and Poland, along with fellow NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark, have increased their planning in recent years for a possible armed conflict with Russia.
“The experience from Ukraine has shown that the temporary movement of people enables the country to continue to defend the country while protecting the citizens,” said the Swedish Ministry of Defense in a statement announcing the agreement in northern Europe.
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Millions of people have fled Ukraine in the four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, many of them seeking refuge in other European countries while the conflict at home continues.
Sweden said that in addition to transport and transit corridors, the organization of the exit of people crossing borders will include the reception and registration of people and the protection of vulnerable groups.
“The purpose of this agreement is to improve the protection of civilians in the event of major crises or, in the worst case, war,” it said.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said that Russia does not want to attack NATO countries.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania last year made a similar agreement among themselves, making emergency plans to deal with the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Russian military buildup or invasion.
Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia, in 2024 signed a similar agreement with Sweden.
