ASSESSMENTS

The Nordic Countries and Russia: A Contentious Collaboration

Jun 6, 2013 | 10:33 GMT

Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev (L) and his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg on June 4.

(CORNELIUS POPPE/AFP/Getty Images)

Summary

As the European Union weakens economically and institutionally, Europe's Nordic countries are considering seizing the economic opportunities presented by a comparatively stronger partner: Russia. Long tied to continental Europe economically, Nordic countries pledged to enhance economic cooperation with Russia, particularly over the Barents region, as recently as June 3-4, when leaders from the countries met in Kirkenes, Norway, for the Barents Summit.

Given the ongoing European crisis, Nordic countries increasingly see Russia as a good complement to Western European markets. However, Russia and the Nordic countries see each other as strategic threats — a shared view that will obstruct cooperation, especially as NATO, once Europe's security guarantor, deteriorates and forces Nordic countries to cooperate more among themselves.

The far northern countries can benefit from working together, but national security tensions remain....

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