Nato debate in Finland and Sweden

Stig Nygard compares the Finnish with the Swedish debate on entry into Nato. Both countries have adapted themselves so closely to Nato that membership is a mere formality. Sweden even takes part in some of the organization's operations. "But Sweden was not at the table when participants in the Nato summit in Riga were debating such important issues as terrorism, the spread of atomic weapons and the collapse of entire countries... The debates about Nato in Sweden and Finland are similar. The leaders of both countries want to wait and see how public opinion develops. But the public will be even more opposed to entry, the minute they lose one of their own in these foreign deployments. This might frustrate the strategy of Finnish and Swedish politicians to steer their countries inconspicuously into Nato."

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