Inside the EU, outside NATO: Paradoxes of Finland's and Sweden's post‐neutrality

Abstract This article examines Finland's and Sweden's security policy in order to explain what the 'post‐neutrality' of these countries is and what it is not. Why do Finland and Sweden appear to be willing to accept almost everything else in the field of security cooperation except collective defence? We focus on both the similarities and differences between the Swedish and Finnish policy by analysing their policies in general and the attitudes towards NATO and the EU in particular. We argue that geopolitics and historical memories still separate the countries, but they have more in common now than during the Cold War. Despite their participation in the European Security and Defence Policy and cooperation with NATO, neither of them feels any need to give up their policy of military non‐alignment. In the future, changes in policy are more likely to happen because of development within the EU than because of any external threat posed by Russia.