Estonia assumed the chair of the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation format on 1 January 2026, pledging to deepen regional integration and raise the group’s international profile.
The Nordic-Baltic Eight is an informal political cooperation format bringing together five Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – alongside the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Established in the early 1990s, the format operates without a permanent secretariat and serves as a flexible platform for coordination on foreign policy, security, economic affairs and regional resilience.
Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said NB8 had become the region’s most important mechanism for political coordination and would be Estonia’s primary international cooperation framework during its year-long term. Tallinn aims to present NB8 as a unified and influential actor in the Euro-Atlantic space, arguing that the eight countries acting together carry significantly more political and economic weight than individually.
Priorities for 2026 include deeper cooperation in defence, digital affairs, culture and the economy, as well as closer coordination across government ministries. Estonia has also pledged to maintain strong and visible support for Ukraine and to continue exerting pressure on Russia. All NB8 countries are members of NATO, and Estonia has said it will use the chairmanship to reinforce regional security and the transatlantic bond throughout 2026.
