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Winston Peters Urges Nordic Nations To Boost Engagement In The Pacific
Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston says the Indo-Pacific region is under the most "sustained pressure" it has experienced in the past eight decades.
Peters made the comments in a speech at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs in Stockholm on Monday, calling on Nordic nations to be more engaged in the Pacific.
He said the region is continually becoming increasingly contested.
"Island nations are seeing their ocean of peace under threat in ways they are mostly powerless to stop," Peters said.
"So, we believe those countries like the Nordics, countries who share our values need to be more engaged in our region in support of our neighbouring Pacific family of nations. They need your help."
Peters departed New Zealand on 19 October for the United Kingdom and the Nordic region.
He is currently in Stockholm, attending the first-ever New Zealand-Nordic 5 Foreign Ministers Meeting.
Prior to leaving, Peters said there were few countries in the world more like-minded with New Zealand than the Nordic states.
In the speech, Peters said both New Zealand and Nordic nations are relatively small in population, but have significant land-based and maritime interests.
He said New Zealand is a NATO partner country and is one of the Indo-Pacific Four - including Australia, Japan and South Korea - that are consulted regularly.
"This helps us to raise the profile of shared strategic challenges in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, and to drive enhanced cooperation in priority areas, including cyber, artificial intelligence, and defence capability."
Following his speech, the Minister had a conversation with Swedish Institute of International Affairs Director Jakob Hallgren - and then answered questions from the audience.
Topics included NZ-Nordic relations, this week’s APEC Leaders’ Meeting in South Korea, how the strategic… pic.twitter.com/0txwCgiL3C
— Winston Peters (@NewZealandMFA) October 28, 2025
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