Bridging the EU’s Political Dividing Lines Is in Finland’s Security Interest

Abstract

The years of several severe European crises have shifted the debate and policy on the EU in Finland into a more reserved and hesitant direction. Finland joined the EU in 1995 largely due to economic and security reasons. It wholeheartedly embraced the opportunities of European integration, and it built a distinctly pro-EU profile in comparison to its closest reference countries, the other Nordic states. Iceland and Norway have decided to stay outside the EU, yet they are members of the European Economic Area. Among its Nordic EU peers, Finns have gained the reputation of being the most pro-integrationist in comparison to the opt-out obsessed Danes who joined the EU in 1973 and self-reliant Swedes who joined in 1995. Finland is the only Nordic EU member which has adopted the euro.