Finland 2024
Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency 2024
BSRBCC Heads Conference, Helsinki Finland
The BSRBCC Heads Conference of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency 2024 was organized in Helsinki, Finland on 26-28 November 2024. The meeting was attended by BSRBCC representatives from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex and the CBSS Secretariat.
Finland built on Poland’s successful 2023 presidency, and further deepened expert-level cooperation within the BSRBCC. BSRBCC Heads Conference is a fine example of the Baltic Sea states commitment to deepen the already established cooperation, and to further contribute to creating a safer Baltic Sea region. BSRBCC should focus on both land border and maritime law enforcement topics, so that the approach to different threats is adequate and comprehensive.
The BSRBCC-presidency was handed over to Estonia by the Chief of the Finnish Border Guard, Mr. Pasi Kostamovaara. The Deputy Director General for Border Management Veiko Kommusaar presented the Action Plan 2025 for the Estonian BSRBCC Presidency.
2nd Cruise Ship Meeting of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency 2024 Helsinki, 5-7 November 2024
The second Cruise Ship Meeting under Finland's BSRBCC Presidency was held in Helsinki from November 5-7, 2024, bringing together representatives from Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Schengen Member States, including Belgium, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).
The Meeting focused on the impact of the Entry/Exit System (EES) and how it will reshape border control procedures for cruise ships. Key discussions included presentations from Denmark on Cruise Ship Traffic 2024 and the changes to border checks post-EES implementation, as well as valuable insights from Frontex on Carrier’s Liability and Cruise Ship Risk Analysis.
The event concluded with a look ahead to Estonia’s upcoming Presidency in 2025, where Estonia outlined their vision for next year’s meeting and proposed key agenda items for continued collaboration.
This successful meeting emphasized the significance of joint efforts in navigating the future of cruise ship border management. Finland is grateful for the active participation and valuable contributions from all attendees and looks forward to continuing the dialogue with Member States at the next Cruise Ship Meeting under Estonia’s Presidency in 2025.
2nd Baltic Border Committee (BBC) experts meeting
The second BSRBCC Baltic Border Committee meeting of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency 2024 was organized in Helsinki, Finland on 22-24. October 2024. The meeting was attended by BSRBCC representatives from Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex. A number of topical BSRBCC matters were discussed at the meeting, such as Finland’s 2024 BSRBCC Presidency Activities 2024, Operational phase and Annual Threat Assessment, Implementation of the MMO Baltic Sea 2024, Finnish Border Guard MVX Program. In addition, Estonia presented the BSRBCC Presidency 2025 Action Plan.
Frontex is co-financing the activities of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency. The Finnish Border Guard has also received funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland for the project “Developing Coast Guard Cooperation in the Baltic Sea region”, the activities of which have been interlinked with the BSRBCC Presidency.
2nd BSRBCC Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) Seminar
The second Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) seminar of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency 2024 was organized in Helsinki, Finland on 24-26 September April 2024. The meeting was attended by BSRBCC representatives from Finland, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex.
The draft of the BSRBCC’s ATA report was presented and discussed during the meeting. Furthermore, representatives from all participating BSRBCC Member states and Frontex presented their remarks on the draft ATA report, all participants presented the current cross-border threats in the Baltic Sea area, and suggested ideas for BSRBCC operational phase 2025.
BSRBCC Aviation Experts Meeting
The Finnish Border Guard organized the Aviation Experts Meeting for authorities dealing with aviation topics in the Baltic Sea region. The seminar was held in Helsinki 16-18 September 2024. The participants of the event consisted of experts responsible for Aviation, Air and Flight Operations.
The aim of the seminar was to share information about authorities’ air operations, manned and unmanned aviation with an emphasis on sea border surveillance. Finland presented to the audience Finnish Border Guard aviation systems and airplane capabilities as well as flight safety issues.
BSRBCC Members states’ presentations focused on current issues in air maritime surveillance and future development prospects. By organizing the Aviation Experts Meeting, the Finnish Border Guard was able to effectively demonstrate national best practices with international partners, obtain information on the international development of authorities’ aviation and sea border surveillance and thereby effectively develop its own operations.
BSRBCC Document Experts’ Seminar
The Document Experts’ seminar of Finland’s Baltic Sea Region Border Control Cooperation (BSRBCC) presidency was organized in Helsinki, Finland on 11–13 June 2024. The meeting was attended by BSRBCC representatives from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex.
During the seminar, all participating BSRBCC Member states and Frontex representatives presented their national situation concerning latest trends in document examination, detected forgeries and counterfeit documents. Furthermore, Finnish representatives presented the Digital Travel Credential pilot project and defect management connected to it, as well as the status of forgeries and latest trends in E-documents and certificates.
The meeting was successful and resulted in important information exchange among the participants. Sharing best practices on document examination in the Baltic Sea region remains to be a key part of the BSRBCC cooperation.
BSRBCC Underwater Seminar 2024
The Finnish Border Guard organized the Baltic Sea Border Control Cooperation Underwater Seminar for experts from authorities dealing with coast guard functions in the Baltic Sea region. The practical seminar was held in Helsinki and Hanko on 10–13 June 2024. The participants of the event consisted mainly of experts responsible for diving and underwater operations of coast guard authorities.
The seminar program included both a discussion and theory part in the classroom and a practical part in an operational environment on board Finnish Border Guard’s Offshore Patrol Vessel Turva. The seminar covered three themes: Security, Crime, and Search and Rescue. The aim of the seminar was to share information about authorities’ underwater capabilities and activities such as underwater situational awareness, underwater crime scene investigation and underwater rescue operations. The seminar discussed, among other things, technical capabilities and operating models related to underwater surveillance and crime scene investigation, as well as diving and rescue capabilities related to demanding accident situations.
By organizing the seminar on underwater capabilities in the Baltic Sea region, the Finnish Border Guard was able to effectively demonstrate national best practices with international partners, obtain information on the international development of authorities’ underwater activities and thereby effectively develop its own operations. The Finnish Border Guard also aimed to create continuity in the cooperation between underwater authorities in the Baltic Sea region so that a similar events could be organized in the future.
1st BSRBCC Cruise Ship Meeting 2024
The first BSRBCC Cruise Ship Meeting was organized online on 16 April 2024. The discussions of the meeting focused on issues related to risk analysis and border checks for cruise ships in the EU. In the maritime law enforcement domain there are many topics that go beyond regional cooperation, such as the BSRBCC, and will have an effect on all coastal states in the EU and Schengen area.
With this background, Finland extended a warm welcome to all representatives of Member States beyond the BSRBCC forum who were able to participate in this meeting. The participants of the meeting consisted of representatives from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex.
1st BSRBCC Annual Threat Assessment Seminar 2024
The first Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) seminar of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency 2024 was organized in Helsinki, Finland on 10-11 April 2024. The meeting was attended by BSRBCC representatives from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex.
The draft of the BSRBCC’s Pre-Annual report was presented and discussed during the meeting. Furthermore, representatives from all participating BSRBCC Member states and Frontex presented their respective situational understanding of the current cross-border threats in the Baltic Sea area. The discussions of the ATA seminar highlighted that Members of the BSRBCC have a coherent shared awareness of the situation in the Baltic Sea and the surrounding region.
1st BSRBCC Baltic Border Committee meeting 2024
The first BSRBCC Baltic Border Committee meeting of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency 2024 was organized in Helsinki, Finland on 19-21 March 2024. The meeting was attended by BSRBCC representatives from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex. Furthermore, representatives from Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the CBSS Secretariat participated in the meeting.
A number of topical BSRBCC matters were discussed at the meeting, such as Finland’s 2024 BSRBCC Presidency Action Plan, the BSRBCC’s Operational phase and Annual Threat Assessment work in 2024, activities of the planned Multipurpose Maritime Operation in the Baltic Sea region as well as Finland’s ongoing CBSS Presidency. In addition, the participants provided updates on their respective topical issues, development projects and the operational environment. The European Maritime Safety Agency EMSA participated in the meeting online and provided the participants with an update on the status of the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), which has reached the operational implementation phase as of January 2024.
Frontex is co-financing the activities of Finland’s BSRBCC Presidency. The Finnish Border Guard has also received funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland for the project “Developing Coast Guard Cooperation in the Baltic Sea region”, the activities of which have been interlinked with the BSRBCC Presidency.
