Monday
16th May 2022
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a threat to all Europe, particularly the Baltic. Sweden and Finland must join Nato to secure peace in the Baltic Sea, write the leaders of the EPP Nordic and Baltic delegations in European Parliament.
"Not even Putin can concoct some imperial Russian myth that Sweden is within Russia's holy borders," said prominent leftwing intellectual and editor of the Dala-Demokraten newspaper, Göran Greider.
Two citizens' initiatives were presented to the parliament in Helsinki this week, one demanding Nato membership and one demanding a referendum on Nato membership. Both gathered the needed 50,000 signatures in a matter of days.
Clubs, associations and social networks help to give meaning not just to life, but to the entire democratic system. Be they dinner groups, voluntary fire brigades, citizens' councils, environmental NGOs, neighbourhood committees coaching refugees, and yes, why not, breastfeeding-support groups.
Climate change, economic opportunities and geopolitics make European and German attention to the 'High North' a political necessity, writes the EU's special envoy for Arctic matters.
A cyberattack against one of the Nordic parliaments will be seen as an attack on them all, MPs at the annual council of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland agreed this week.
Sweden has signalled it will follow Finland in applying to join Nato, as Switzerland also mulls closer ties with the Western alliance.
Finnish public support for joining Nato has risen to record figures since Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Finland's historic move puts pressure on Sweden to also move towards joining the military alliance.
Finnish MPs have got the ball rolling on a week that's expected to culminate in a tectonic shift in Nordic security — Finland and Sweden's decision to apply for Nato membership.
Russian threats will not stop Finland joining Nato, a senior Finnish official has indicated, amid memories of its 'Winter War' with the Soviet Union.
Finland is expected to kick off a debate on the country's potential Nato membership. But Russia has clearly voiced opposition towards any potential enlargement of the western military alliance.
MEPs are taking the EU-lead to hold Denmark to account for stripping Syrians of residency rights. Although aware of the problem, the European Commission has other priorities while the issue has not been raised at the Council, representing member states.
How close are we to battery-powered planes? What effect has Greta Thunberg had on the attitudes of her fellow Swedes? Is small-scale farming the future? These are some of the questions up for discussion in a new podcast series.
Denmark's former immigration minister Inger Støjberg was on Monday sentenced to 60 days jail for her policy of separating married asylum seekers.
Work ministers reached a common position over EU draft law on minimum wages in Europe, without the support of Denmark and Hungary. The agreement comes after months of negotiations - and strong opposition led by Scandinavian countries.
Nordic countries launched several initiatives at the COP26 climate conference which will have a real impact on the ground. Nordic and UK pension funds are to invest billions in clean energy and climate initiatives. Greenland has joined the Paris Agreement.
Norway currently has 90 oil and gas-producing fields, which could rise to more than 130. One way that harms the shift to a greener economy is because offshore wind and the burgeoning hydrogen industry are competing for the same workers.
The 'Waterloo'-era 1970s was indeed a positive and thriving time in Sweden, during which much progress was made in society. That progress, driven by the Social Democrats, with Olof Palme as prime minister, ensured a high-level welfare state.
Sweden and Finland are no longer embarrassed to cooperate with Nato countries, says the Nordic Council president. With Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg addressing the November meeting, it has gone from being not discussed at all - to the main topic.
The Arctic is warming up to three times as fast as the rest of the planet, putting increasing pressure on Greenland's ice sheet, scientists have warned
Europe's new Arctic strategy called for increased "geopolitical" engagement and a ban on drilling, but without an army, the EU is relying on "sustainable diplomacy" to project influence.
The EU's 2030 Forest Strategy is triggering diplomatic clashes over who should responsible for forest policy, as EU auditors voice concern on biodiversity loss.
Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre will have to form a minority government after the coalition which once ruled Norway for eight years could not agree on oil and gas.
A new report revealed that oil and gas firms are planning to ramp up their fossil fuel extraction in the Arctic by more than 20 per cent over the next five years, partly thanks to the financial support from banks.
This month, three Swedish women landed in Stockholm, expelled from Syria together with their children. Two of the women were arrested, one suspected of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Their children were immediately taken into custody.
After eight years, Erna Solberg's tenure as prime minister ended last night: Norway made a left turn and a centre-left government will take over.
The most-recent UN climate panel's report on global warming has also heated up the election campaign in Norway - and boosted the far-left and green parties.
The European Commission got its forest strategy wrong. Sweden has tried this model from 1920 to 1950 and the result was catastrophic.
The polls are not in Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg's favour - but she thinks she has a 50-50 chance of winning a third term. Like Merkel, both are female leaders of conservative parties, and know how to win elections.
A recent study shows that gun homicide has increased in Sweden - as opposed to the rest of Europe, where it's been in decline for years.
Denmark is throwing out Syrian refugees, who risk violence and who made Denmark their home for years, in a test of the EU country's respect for human rights.
The foreign ministers of the five Nordic nations – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – express deep concern that Europe's common core principles of human rights, democracy and the rule of law are increasingly contested.
EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson has taken a firm stand against outsourcing asylum to other parts of the world. Her comments follow a recent Danish law that aims to stop asylum seekers from filing claims in Denmark.
