Nordic cooperation amid pandemic travel restrictions

Thomas Blomqvist (Swedish People’s Party) is the Finnish Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality since 2019. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2007. Blomqvist first took an interest in social issues through municipal politics, and he has been a member of the local council since 1993; first in Ekenäs and then in Raseborg. He has also served as Chair of the Swedish Parliamentary Group.

Kristin Haugevik is Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Haugevik holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Oslo (2014). Her research at NUPI revolves around inter-state cooperation, friendship, and diplomacy, with a geographical focus on the European and transatlantic region and the foreign policies of Britain and the Nordic states.

Alberto Giacometti is Research Fellow at Nordregio, specializing in regional development, governance, and planning processes. He holds a double master’s degree in European Spatial Planning from Radboud University in the Netherlands, and in Regional Development from Blekinge Tekniska Högskola in Sweden.

Katja Creutz is Acting Programme Director for the Global Security research programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. She is also leading the Nordic Network at the institute. Her main field of expertise is international law and especially issues of responsibility, human rights and global governance. Dr Creutz holds a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Helsinki and a Master of Political Science from Åbo Akademi University.

Johan Strang is Associate Professor at the Centre for Nordic Studies (CENS), University of Helsinki, and an Academy of Finland Research Fellow with the project Norden since the End of History (NORDEND, 2019-2024). He is also a member of the steering group of the consortium ReNEW (Reimagining Norden in an evolving world, NordForsk 2018-2023). Strang has published extensively on the political and intellectual history of the Nordic region, and especially Nordic cooperation.

Mikael Wigell is Research Director at the FIIA and Adjunct Professor at Tampere University. He earned his PhD at the London School of Economics and he has held Visiting Fellowships at Oxford University, the Torcuato di Tella University, Buenos Aires, as well as a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Academy of Finland. He currently leads the ‘International Business Risk and Resilience Monitor for Strengthening National Economic Preparedness’ project funded by the European Commission, as well as the ‘Nordic Security of Supply in an Age of Disruption’ project funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. His latest book is as editor of the volume ‘Geo-economics and Power Politics in the 21st Century’ (Routledge, 2018; 2020).