Sweden said that ten northern European countries have agreed to prepare for possible cross-border evacuations of civilians in the event of a crisis or military conflict in the region in an attempt to learn from the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The ten countries will jointly draw up plans covering transport, border control, travel corridors and other issues.
Germany and Poland, along with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark, have in recent years stepped up planning for a possible future armed conflict with Russia.
“The experience from Ukraine shows that temporary population transfers allow the country's defense to continue while protecting civilians,“ it says in a statement from the Swedish Defense Ministry announcing the agreement.
Millions of people have fled Ukraine in the four years since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, with most of them seeking refuge in other European countries as the conflict continues, DPA reported.
Sweden said that in addition to transport and travel corridors, plans for cross-border evacuations would include the reception and registration of people and the protection of vulnerable groups.
“The aim of the agreement is to improve the protection of the civilian population in the event of a major crisis or, in the worst case, war,“ the statement said.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said that Russia does not want to invade NATO countries.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania concluded a similar agreement with each other last year and have drawn up plans for emergency action to address the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing a Russian troop buildup or attack.
Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia, signed a similar agreement with Sweden in 2024.