Nordic bid farewell to neutrality! The European security landscape has ushered in the biggest turning point since the Cold War. Finland | Sweden | Security
On July 13th, US President Biden visited Finland. He will visit Helsinki as the concluding stop of his European trip to attend the NATO summit. This is by no means accidental. Russian media believe that in the past, Helsinki was only seen by the White House as a neutral platform for hosting international meetings. Nowadays, the region has gradually become a crucial part of the Western containment system against Russia.
On the same day, the third US Nordic Summit was held in Helsinki. In addition to Biden, leaders from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and the host country Finland attended the meeting. In addition to Biden, leaders from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and the host country Finland attended the meeting. On July 14th, an article in the Russian newspaper Independence pointed out that Nordic countries have completely bid farewell to neutrality. This is particularly evident in this summit: the most talked about topic is not Nordic affairs, but how to support Ukraine.
According to reports, Biden not only talked to reporters about the relationship between the United States and Nordic countries, but also mentioned the relationship with Russia. He unexpectedly revived the topic of exchanging prisoners with Russia. However, it is clear that Finland will not play a middleman role on this issue like it did in the Cold War era, and its relationship with Russia has reached its lowest point.
During the Cold War, Finland and Sweden remained neutral in diplomacy, while Iceland, Norway, and Denmark, although all joined NATO, could never be considered hawks within the organization. Iceland is the only NATO country without a military. Norway and Denmark are the most active disruptors in NATO's decision to increase military spending. This summit clearly mentioned that Denmark and Norway have not yet achieved the target of defense spending accounting for 2% of GDP.
However, the events that kicked off on February 24, 2022 caused a political upheaval in Europe. In Sweden and Finland, which had previously unconditionally supported continuing neutrality, their public opinion began to lean towards joining NATO. Finland has now joined, while Sweden is expected to officially enter NATO in the fall of this year.
Norway and Denmark have also significantly increased military spending. The Norwegian government plans to meet the 2% threshold for military spending on GDP by 2026, while Denmark plans to meet it by 2030. At the same time, the five Nordic countries are actively helping Ukraine.
At the Helsinki Summit, all parties mentioned their intention to strengthen support for Ukraine. Sweden and Ukraine have signed an agreement that involves providing more weapons and exchanging intelligence.
In addition, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on July 11 that with Türkiye's loosening of Sweden's accession to NATO, Sweden's "accession" has made significant progress, and the European security order is about to usher in the biggest turning point after the cold war.
After Finland officially joined NATO in April this year, if Sweden can also smoothly join the treaty, it means that the Baltic Sea, which is an important military route, will become NATO's "inner sea".
The Gulf of Finland, which connects the Baltic Sea, faces Russia's second largest city and strategic hub, St. Petersburg. The Baltic Sea has also become an important maritime transportation route for Russia to the Atlantic Ocean. Once surrounded by NATO countries, the activities of the Russian navy and air force in the western region may be restricted.
Sweden has the world's top submarine fleet. If Sweden deploys several submarines in the Baltic Sea, it will pose a significant constraint on the Russian navy.
In June 2022, dozens of Russian ships conducted naval exercises in the Baltic Sea with the aim of restraining NATO. That month, President Putin issued a warning that Russia would respond if NATO set up military bases in Finland and Sweden.
Finland, which officially joined NATO in April this year, borders Russia with a north-south border that stretches over 1300 kilometers. With Sweden located west of Finland, NATO's defense capabilities in the Nordic region will be enhanced. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has greatly reversed the security concept of the Nordic countries. The accession of the Nordic countries to the Treaty resulted in Russia losing the buffer zone along the Baltic Sea coast.
