Barents Rescue, a civil international crisis management exercise, was initiated and conducted in Sweden for the first time in 2001. From 2019, it will be conducted every third year. The four countries take turn in arranging the exercise. The last time that Sweden hosted Barents Rescue was in 2011. Barents Euro-Arctic Council was formally inaugurated on the initiative of the foreign minister of Norway, Thorvald Stoltenberg, in 1993. The aim is to: Strengthen peace, stability and progress through the enhancement of the capability of cross-border cooperation within the Barents Euro-Arctic region. During 2017–2019, Sweden will hold the chairmanship of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, led by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.