Sweden doubted Finland's defensive capability in Cold War
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According to the classified material collected by Swedish diplomat Rolf Ekéus, Sweden considered Finland as a buffer against the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. While believing that Finland had a strong desire to protect herself against a potential attack, Sweden did not have confidence in the Finns' defensive capability. Consequently, Swedish officers even considered placing mines in Finnish territorial waters.
This information was included in an article in Saturday's issue of a new business-oriented daily newspaper Presso published by Kauppalehti and Alma Media. The article was based on the notes written by Ekéus.
According to the article, the Swedish and Norwegian defence ministers used to avoid discussing any important matters at Nordic Council meetings because they suspected that their Finnish colleagues would leak information to the Soviets.
Moreover, information received from Finland was not always trusted, either. For example, General Bengt Gustafsson, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, is said to have once travelled to Finland to "pick berries" as he wanted to check the accuracy of certain information he had received.
Rolf Ekéus - best known as a former United Nations arms inspector in Iraq - compiled his information following a commission from Prime Minister Göran Persson. The material exposes some details of the Swedish intelligence service's archives during the Cold War era.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 28.2.2005 - TODAY |
 Sweden doubted Finland's defensive capability in Cold War
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