Northern Europe

European Leadership and the Corona Crisis: Geopolitical Effects on Northern Europe

On June 15, 2020, the Atlantic Council Northern Europe Office in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Nordic Office, organized a seminar on the topic of ”European Leadership and the Corona Crisis: Geopolitical Effects on Northern Europe”. The public seminar was attended by experts from all around Europe, representing parliaments, governmental institutions, political parties, think-tanks and […]

Geometries of deterrence: Assessing defense arrangements in Europe’s northeast

By Hans Binnendijk and Conor Rodihan

Nations in Europe's northeast cooperate through a variety of multilateral security and defense arrangements. "Geometries of Deterrence" assesses how these arrangements individually and collectively contribute to deterrence and defense in Northeastern Europe.

Evolving through crisis: European leadership in the light of COVID-19

By Elin Schiffer

The Atlantic Council's Northern Europe office convened a seminar on lessons learned from the early phases of the pandemic for European and transatlantic leadership.

Pandemic response should not equal isolationism, Swedish FM argues

By David A. Wemer

International cooperation will be crucial not only to “fight the pandemic” of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but also “to get us back on track afterwards,” Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde said on April 29. She stressed that while leaders remain focused on containing outbreaks in their own countries, they must avoid the temptation to shun the benefits international trade and cooperation can bring as a much-needed economic recovery begins.

Something not so rotten in the Kingdom of Denmark

By Nauja Bianco and Andras Simonyi

Denmark's success in combating the coronavirus provides a powerful example of how democracies can be more effective in times of crises.

The “time is now or never” for Central Europe to grasp Three Seas opportunity, Estonia’s president says

By David A. Wemer

Now that an investment fund to fuel the development of stronger cross-border transportation, energy, and digital infrastructure links in Central and Eastern Europe has been launched, countries in the region “need to quickly decide” whether they want to participate before the opportunity vanishes, according to Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid.

The Arctic is “not up for grabs,” Norwegian ambassador says

By Connor McPartland

“The Arctic is changing, but our objectives remain the same: to secure peace and stability,” Norwegian Ambassador to the United States Kare R. Aas said on February 6. During keynote address opening the Atlantic Council’s “Looking North: Conference on Security in the Arctic,” Aas laid out Norway’s approach to the Arctic, noting that it takes its role as an Arctic state seriously.

CCS in Norway: Propelling global innovation for decarbonization

By Lee Beck

Northern Lights, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project backed, in part, by the Norwegian government is set to bolster European and global carbon capture innovation, accelerating climate progress and exemplifying the next wave of global CCS facilities.

The Russian threat is scaring Sweden

By Anders Åslund

After Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in February 2014, the Swedish thinking about its defense has changed remarkably. Like most of Europe, Sweden had steadily disarmed for a quarter of a century after the end of the Cold War, and its military expenditure had sunk to 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Russia’s actions against Ukraine woke Sweden up. Swedes got upset, while the Finns were worried. Together with Poland and the three Baltic states, Sweden has been among the European Union countries most committed to sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.

What the United States can learn from Europe on fighting cyberattacks and disinformation

By John Burton

If you want to deal effectively with cyber challenges then you need to address not just the computer part…but the political part as well, the human being behind the attack,” said Jonatan Vseviov, the Estonian ambassador to the United States.