NEWS ANALYSIS: Swedish Foreign Minister denies NATO comments he was praised for

Bildt says NATO debate unrelated to Nordic cooperation

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By Kari Huhta
     
      Finland's political leaders praised a stand taken at the end of last week, according to which Nordic cooperation is more important than membership in NATO. It was reported on the website of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) that the statement was made by Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
      Since then, Bildt has denied juxtaposing Nordic cooperation and NATO in any way. YLE took the item off its website already early Thursday.
     
Bildt's alleged statement and comments that they have raised in this country have not raised much interest in Sweden. However, reactions in Finland can show neighbours as well how enthusiastically Finnish security policy debaters seek support for their views.
     "To make a little joke, it is nice that the Swedes are also joining in this kind of thinking", said President Tarja Halonen in Mikkeli on Thursday.
     According to Halonen, Bildt had said that "with respect to new security risks, Nordic cooperation could be even more important than membership in some alliance".
     
In his weblog, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) commented on Bildt by saying that security policy debate in Sweden is not linked with NATO membership, and he recommends the same for Finland. However, at the end he climaxes with a quotation from the YLE news item in which Bildt gives the advice that "Finland would do well to look at its own neighbours more than at NATO".
      Pertti Salolainen (Nat. Coalition Party), the chairman of Parliament's foreign affairs committee, welcomed the prospect of Nordic defence cooperation, especially as the road to NATO is blocked.
     Minister for Foreign Affairs Ilkka Kanerva (Nat. Coalition Party) had clearly received more detailed information from his Swedish colleague before writing in his column that Nordic cooperation and NATO are not mutually exclusive, "and Bildt did not mean it that way".
     
According to the YLE item, Bildt considers Nordic cooperation more important than NATO membership. He wants countries with shoreline on the Baltic Sea to take part in the cooperation, and according to the quotation from Vanhanen, is also advising Finland to look less in the direction of NATO.
     According to his aides, Bildt has not given any kind of advice to Finland, nor has he juxtaposed Nordic cooperation with NATO. The YLE news item did not say where the views were expressed, but it was based on a meeting between Bildt and journalists held in Stockholm on Wednesday. Helsingin Sanomat was not present at the gathering.
     Producer Timo Huovinen of YLE News says that YLE stands behind its item concerning Bildt, but it was taken off the YLE website on Thursday, because the views expressed by Bildt in background discussions were not on tape, and "it would be difficult to prove them verbatim".
     
Bildt writes in his own weblog that he spoke primarily about security cooperation for Norway, Finland and Sweden, which can be expanded if the Baltic point of view is brought forward more vigorously.
     "But that - I underscored - should not be confused or juxtaposed with any debate on NATO in different countries", Bildt writes. He repeats his view in another article, where he otherwise praises Finnish initiatives in Nordic cooperation.
     
Debate that has taken place in Finland on the views expressed by Bildt has been further confused by repeated references to Bildt's security policy article in Dagens Nyheter last Wednesday. In it, Bildt nevertheless presents only one sentence in which he expresses a positive view of Nordic security cooperation, and mentions the Baltic sea region mainly as an economic possibility for Sweden.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 8.1.2008


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Halonen wants more defence cooperation with Nordic Countries and Baltic States (4.1.2008)
  Nordic foreign ministers discuss security policy matters once again (1.11.2007)

KARI HUHTA / Helsingin Sanomat
kari.huhta@hs.fi