Tallinn’s Mayor Peeter Raudsepp and Helsinki’s Mayor Daniel Sazonov approved the Helsinki–Tallinn twin city cooperation action plan for 2026–2029 today in Tallinn. The action plan strengthens the strategic partnership between the two cities in the areas of innovation, security and people-to-people cooperation, setting clear objectives for the years ahead.
“Twin city cooperation is much more than joint projects. Tallinn and Helsinki are strategic partners with a shared economic space, shared marketing and a shared voice in the European Union. The new action plan strengthens this partnership with concrete goals and actions,” said Mayor Peeter Raudsepp.
Helsinki’s Mayor Daniel Sazonov highlighted the depth of the partnership: “Cooperation between Helsinki and Tallinn has deep roots and has been developing consistently over many years. This long-term partnership continues to deepen as we agree on our new cooperation action plan. With the new action plan, we are opening up fresh opportunities for both cities to strengthen our economic growth, deepen collaboration, and create new avenues for innovation.”
The action plan defines three strategic priorities: growth and innovation, a resilient and sustainable Baltic Sea region, and creative industries and people-to-people cooperation. Cooperation covers areas including startup ecosystem development, civil protection and cultural and youth programmes. A joint hackathon with Ukrainian cities focused on crisis preparedness in urban environments is also planned.
Joint international marketing and coordinated EU-level advocacy run across all three priorities. The two cities will coordinate their positions in Brussels to ensure better representation of city interests in EU policies.
“In addition to everyday business and tourism cooperation, we consider it important to join Helsinki’s initiative to build an undersea tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki, which would allow us to develop this cooperation even better and faster. Helsinki is a city that Tallinn has much to learn from, particularly when it comes to adopting our new master plan. Helsinki has been an example to us in this field with its speed and clarity,” added Tallinn’s Mayor Peeter Raudsepp.
The action plan builds on the cooperation memorandum signed in 2022, which serves as the foundation of the long-term strategic partnership between Tallinn and Helsinki. The memorandum emphasises close political and administrative cooperation, joint project development and increased international visibility.
Source: tallinn.ee
