The Lessons of Nordic States’ Foreign Policy in the Baltic Region 1989-2004: Relevant Analogies

The article is devoted to the comparative case-study of the relations between the Nordic and Baltic countries in 1989-2004 and with Ukraine from 2014 to the present day. The aim of the article is to identify change and continuity trends in Nordic states foreign policies and their tasks towards the post-Soviet space. The research is based on the published sources of the Gorbachev Foundation, documents of the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation and the memoirs of Brigadier General Michael H. Klemmesen, who was in charge of the military cooperation between Denmark and the Baltic countries in the 1990s. During the ending stage of the Cold War and in the context of growing contacts between Northern European states and the newly independent Baltic states, the Nordic balance and the constant interaction of the Nordic countries with the EU and NATO remained highly important. In both cases regarding the support for the Baltic countries during the collapse of the USSR and the weakening of Russia, and with the start of a Special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the countries of Northern Europe despite the fundamentally different security situations took similar steps to abandon previous prudence, to revise foreign policy and defense concepts and expand cooperation with the EU and NATO as pillars of the Euro-Atlantic community. The main driving force behind providing military assistance to the Ukraine and contemporary Baltic-Scandinavian cooperation remains the same as in 1989-2004 that is to counter Russia and limit its sphere of influence.

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