“Putin’s agents hiding in Sweden”. “Russian violence against Ukrainian children in Putin’s camps”. Just another day in the Swedish supermarket queue.
How Scandinavia Abandoned Neutrality and Lost Its Diplomatic Power
Af Pelle Taylor
For my generation, the Nordic Region was the world’s quiet room. It issued the Nobel Peace Prize, hosted the spy swaps, and brokered the talks that nobody else could host. The Cold War raged in central Germany; in the Baltic, it was scarcely audible. Stockholm was a northern Vienna, a place where diplomats said the things they could not say at home. There were few armaments in the Baltic Sea and fewer illusions. The Swedes built a hedgehog army and kept their own counsel, the Finns stroked the bear’s stomach, and the result was peace and prosperity in equal measure.
