Written by Tom Mantelet

Since the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1949, the Nordic countries or Scandinavian countries remained divided on their willingness to join the Alliance. Whereas Norway, Denmark, and Iceland directly joined NATO, Sweden and Finland chose not to. The recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia has re-shaped how the two Scandinavian nations viewed their national and regional security policies. Following the Russian attack, Finland and Sweden formally affirmed their willingness to join the Alliance and confirmed their ability to meet the “political, legal and military obligations and commitments of NATO membership” (NATO 2022). For these two countries a NATO membership would mean, for the first time, a military and nuclear security guarantee against Russia.

Nevertheless, although NATO’s security provision and mutual military assistance is apparent, it is less evident what Finland and Sweden would provide to the North Atlantic Alliance and how they would strengthen NATO’s strategic position.