Merkel's European
Wake Up Call Is Being
Answered in the
Nordics
by- Nordic countries seek deeper economic and military ties
- Region is promoting itself as world’s most integrated
With Vladimir Putin in the east and Donald Trump to the west, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel is now telling Europe it has to stand up for itself.
It’s a call that’s already being answered by the continent’s richest region.
Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway have over the past two years been
deepening their military cooperation to counter a deteriorating security
situation in the Baltic and the Arctic. They are also forging closer ties on
softer issues, presenting this week a joint initiative to meet sustainability
goals, promoting the 20 million-person region’s shared values on social
equality, and discussing joint interaction with China.
“There’s no doubt that Europe needs to take bigger responsibility, we have
to spend more on defense and security,” Erna Solberg, Norway’s prime
minister, said in an interview on Monday as Nordic leaders start a two-day
summit in Bergen. Norway will ensure good cooperation “with its closest
allies, and some are in the EU and some are on the other side of the
Atlantic,” she said.
The Nordic summit started a day after Merkel said reliable relationships
forged in Europe since the end of World War II “are to some extent over.” The
German chancellor made those comments after meeting with U.S. President
Donald Trump in Brussels and Sicily over the past week.
Both Solberg and Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila cautioned against
interpreting Merkel’s remarks as a major shift.
Not NATO
The comments were mainly about the economic side, “that European
countries should take more responsibility on the NATO budget,” Sipila
said. “This message has been quite clear all the time. At the same time this
means that we can cooperate more inside the European Union” and that “the
window is open for defense cooperation,” he said.
The broadest shifts in policy in the region have
been seen in Finland and Sweden, which unlike
Denmark and Norway aren’t members of NATO.
The two neighbors have intensified military
cooperation and also forged closer ties with the
military alliance without outright joining NATO. Finland’s proximity to
Russia has excluded it from becoming a full-fledged member, while Sweden
has a long-held belief that official neutrality serves it best.
All four countries have been boosting spending, with Denmark and Norway
now working toward meeting the 2 percent spending goal that NATO members
have been lambasted by Trump for not meeting.
‘Grave Difficulties’
Because of the different security alliances, Solberg said that closer Nordic
cooperation will likely center around economic questions.
“European cooperation will become stronger going forward and then we
will cooperate with those that are our closest allies, but Sweden and Finland
are also close partners,” she said.
But even now Sweden is in “grave difficulties” after disarming since the end
of the cold-war, according to Finnish diplomat René Nyberg, who has served
as Finland’s ambassador to both Moscow and Berlin.
“There are many building blocks, which are quite solid,” Nyberg said in an
interview in Helsinki May 24. “Finland’s military cooperation with Sweden
has proceeded at an incredible pace, and it’s a great success. Sweden needs
it -- it’s not just Finland that does.”
Sipila said the cooperation “is very important for both countries.”
Trump’s talk on raising trade barriers, and the U.K.’s decision to exit the
European Union, have also jolted the trade-dependent region. The U.K.
was seen as a key ally within the bloc by Sweden and Denmark, two other
countries that have chosen not to adopt the euro. Norway, flush with oil
wealth, has rejected joining the EU altogether.
Sipila said there are “a lot” of possibilities to strengthen economic ties across
the region, including setting up a single “digital market” and a bio-fuels
market.
The Nordic leaders also discussed more joint cooperation in dealing with
China, albeit on an “ad-hoc” basis, according to Swedish Prime Minister
Stefan Lofven, as well as combating climate change.
“As the most integrated region in the world we have today agreed to further
deepen our cooperation,” Lovfen said at a press briefing.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Your comments are needed for helping to improve the discussion.