... possibility of Lapland becoming a central NATO stronghold in Northern Europe would be a new major chapter in the alliance's “Arctic pivot”.
NATO troops and a new command centre may soon appear right next door to Santa Claus's “village”, as Finland and its allies negotiate over the deployment of NATO troops to Lapland,
states
Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen to STT (Finnish News Agency) on August 21. Together with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, he attended the summer meeting of the ...
The ICE alliance has more geopolitical and geostrategic rationale than economic
On July 11, 2024, on the margins of the NATO Summit in Washington, the US, Canada and Finland announced a new trilateral consortium—the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact—with an explicit intention to challenge Russia and China in icebreaker construction and deployment. It is expected that by the end of 2024 the three nations ...
...
Working Paper No.76 / 2023
The following working paper examines the current state of security in the Baltic region. It has become clear that there is no going back to the pre-Ukraine crisis balance of power structure. NATO’s expansion into Sweden and Finland can radically transform the political and security landscape in the Baltic region and destroy the established forms of cooperation these states have with Russia. This paper covers: risks and opportunities states face by engaging with Russia in ...
The world really needs to question is the very fundamental requirement and existence of “NATO” itself
On 4 April 2023, Finland formally became the 31st country of the NATO security alliance. Western scholars argue that Finland’s joining has further strengthened the Western collective alliance that would enable a greater security framework in the North. A critical assessment ...
... with the U.S. about bases on Danish territory; Norway’s similar bomber role and acceptance of U.S. bases on its territory; heightened tensions in the region (and the Arctic) and,
as I predicted right after Russia’s military operation in Ukraine
, Finland’s and Sweden’s panicking, rushed and fatal decision to join NATO.
Why Sweden and Finland are joining NATO
Andrey Kortunov:
NATO’s Cheek by Russia’s Jowl
Here are some of the possible reasons for this tension-increasing and security-reducing ...
Pugwash, together with several Finnish NGOs (Peace Union of Finland, ICAN Finland, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Technology for Life Finland) have set up a Nuclear Weapons Monitoring Group (Finland) whose task is to provide timely analysis on issues relating to nuclear weapons and NATO.
Source: Reuters
...
... President of Ukraine
called upon Western states
to close their countries off to Russians, while Ukraine itself is so far abstaining from such steps.
Virtually simultaneously, Estonia’s Prime Minister and several politicians from Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland suggested that the EU
stop issuing visas to Russian nationals
. Previously, Polish authorities had made a similar proposal.
Ivan Timofeev:
Closing Loopholes: Outlining the U.S. and EU Sanctions Policy Onward
After Russia recognized the Donetsk ...
... Institute for US and Canadian Studies, MGIMO University, as well as European and Swedish experts from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the European Leadership Network (ELN) discussed the implications of possible Sweden and Finland membership in NATO for global and European security, the risks of incidents in the Baltic Sea region and the possibilities to avoid them, security challenges in the Arctic region, and the prospects for multilateral cooperation in the Arctic in ...
... but nevertheless working meeting. It was necessary to formalise several decisions taken in the preparation process. At the local level—to determine the modality of strengthening the eastern borders of the alliance, to consider the applications of Finland and Sweden, as well as the prospects and format for providing military assistance to Ukraine. On the strategic level, how to correlate the global and the regional perspectives in the alliance’s foreign policy.
The unity of the alliance as the ...
... (RIAC) hosted a round table discussion on Russia and NATO in the framework of Euro-Atlantic security. The participants discussed the contours of global and regional security in today's realities, due to the prospective NATO membership for Sweden and Finland.
The event was attended by Igor Ivanov, RIAC President; Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General; Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director of Programs; Antti Helantera, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Finland in the Russian Federation; ...