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The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

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358 THE NORDIC COUNTRIES, THEIR REGION AND EUROPEStockholmSWEDENÅl<strong>and</strong>(Finl<strong>and</strong>)FINLANDHelsinkiTallinnESTONIASt PetersburgRUSSIALATVIARigaBaltic SeaGdanskKaliningrad(Russia)POLANDLITHUANIAVilniusBELARUSMinskMap of <strong>the</strong> eastern Baltic Sea regioninstrumental in starting <strong>the</strong> Baltic <strong>Defence</strong> College in Tartu <strong>and</strong> still provide asubstantial proportion of <strong>the</strong> staff. 3 <strong>The</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong>se activities are decliningnow, when <strong>the</strong> armed forces of <strong>the</strong> Baltic states have acquired enough competenceto run <strong>the</strong>ir own business, is quite natural <strong>and</strong> nothing to be sorry about.On <strong>the</strong> contrary; much of <strong>the</strong> cooperation is in fact continuing, but on a morenearly equal basis. Both Latvia <strong>and</strong> Lithuania are procuring ground-to-air missilesfrom Sweden, 4 <strong>the</strong> exchange of students in military schools continues,joint mine-clearing operations are conducted in <strong>the</strong> Baltic, <strong>and</strong> so on.III. Different outlooksWhy, <strong>the</strong>n, with <strong>the</strong> extremely close connections between <strong>the</strong> countries in <strong>the</strong>Baltic Sea region, is it so hard to agree on questions concerning <strong>the</strong> ultimatethreats—those that endanger <strong>the</strong> very survival of <strong>the</strong> states in question? This3 In 2004, more than one-fifth of <strong>the</strong> staff of <strong>the</strong> Baltic <strong>Defence</strong> College come from <strong>Nordic</strong> countries:Denmark provided 3, Finl<strong>and</strong> 1, Norway 2 <strong>and</strong> Sweden 4 staff members out of a total of 46.4 Latvia decided in Nov. 2004 to buy <strong>the</strong> RBS 70 short-range air defence missile system from <strong>the</strong>Swedish company Saab. Saab Group, ‘Ano<strong>the</strong>r NATO country buys RBS 70’, Press release, 25 Nov.2005, URL . Lithuania has accepted a Norwegi<strong>and</strong>onation of <strong>the</strong> same type of missile but will buy <strong>the</strong> necessary maintenance <strong>and</strong> upgrades from Sweden.Lithuanian Ministry of National <strong>Defence</strong>, ‘Lithuanian airspace to be safeguarded by air defence armamentsdonated by Norway’, News release, Vilnius, 14 Nov. 2004, URL .

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