Kari Häkämies
Region Mayor
Regional Council of Southwest Finland
Finland
People tend to refer to Nordic cooperation with praise – and, undoubtedly, there are good reasons for it. Since the 1950s, the Nordic countries have engaged in mutual interaction, with the results to show for these efforts. The most concrete example is passport-free travel, which guarantees that Nordic residents do not need a passport when travelling from one country to another. The Nordic countries have also conducted pioneering cooperation in many fields, such as social services and education.
The Nordic Council was a forum that brought together politicians from these different countries. However, as their lofty goals became reality in a very short time after the wars, people began to ignore the Council. Naturally, some politicians remained fascinated by Nordic collaboration, but as foreign and security policy were practically excluded from the Council’s purview, each country’s top political brass began dismissing the achievements of the Council’s meetings.
The Nordic countries also began to diverge in their foreign and security policies. Denmark and Norway applied for NATO membership, Finland signed the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, or YYA Treaty, with the Soviet Union, and Sweden remained outside all military alliances while participating actively in foreign policy debates during Olof Palme’s term, before nearly dismantling its entire defence force over the following decades.
This situation remained relatively stable until Russia began accelerating its acts of aggression in different directions. For a very long time, the whole of Western Europe remained far too naive towards Vladimir Putin’s actions. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many were forced to reconsider their stance. The direction of Sweden and Finland also became crystal clear: their future would be with NATO.
Although both countries tend to wax poetic about their past political collaborations, their mutual political history has been anything but smooth. Their most serious setback was when Sweden submitted its application for EC membership without informing Finland in advance. President Mauno Koivisto is said to have been traumatised for life by Sweden’s actions. Another mishap occurred when Sweden decided to remain virtually silent while Paavo Lipponen, Finland’s ex-prime minister, was aiming for the presidency of the European Commission.
Sweden typically saw Finland as a kind of little brother whose actions did not interest it to any great degree. Sweden’s political elite in Stockholm remained unaware of most Finnish politicians and artists. However, the NATO process has served to equalise their relationship. The largest daily newspapers in Sweden began to feature news stories and even entire sections dedicated solely to Finland.
Each country is free to make its own choices, but it is clear that when it comes to NATO, Finland and Sweden should act together. There are many reasons for this. And perhaps both countries should consider whether joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will result in other changes in their societies and not just in their foreign and security policies. I would even recommend carrying out a separate survey on this, either jointly or separately.
For decades, Finland’s political compass always pointed east. Now it has nearly closed its eastern border and ceased any official interaction, and this situation is unlikely to change in the next few years. Finland is thus becoming more western and turning towards Sweden instead of Russia.
There may be other reasons for this westward trend than just Russia’s military aggression. The green transition is proving to be a huge change, and future industrial players may feel increasingly forced to relocate to where clean electricity is available in Finland. Western Finland features the best prerequisites for this.
Increasing cooperation should also be considered at the regional level. The cities of Umeå and Vaasa have gone the farthest in their efforts, as they have even based their activities on a shared urban strategy and own a ship that operates between the cities.
It is also worth emphasising the ability of Finns to speak Swedish. In recent years, many young Finns have elected to mindlessly neglect their Swedish studies, even though they would surely benefit from truly knowing the language of their neighbours.
For Finland, its NATO membership signals a westward turn, a newly heightened sense of emotional liberty and, hopefully, an increase in all kinds of cooperation with Sweden. One great symbolic example of this is that the daughter of Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s Prime Minister, has decided to pursue her studies at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki – and, of course, the fact that the Finnish Prime Minister was there to help them assemble her new Ikea furniture.