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"QUIET CORNER''
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As a rcsult, Finland was not
brought under Soviet control,
unlike Eastern European nations
bordering the U.S.S.R. Norway
and Dcnmark joined the Atlantic
Alliancc, but at a lower level of
military commitment.
1n 1954, Norway's Foreign
Ministcr Ha lvard Lange provided
a succinct definition of this Nordic
balance. Norway had refused to
allow foreign bases on its territory,
he said, because "the stationing of
allied units on the Scandinavian
península might provoke incrcasing
Soviet pressure on Enland , and
poss ibly Ru ssian occupation of
Finnish bases near the Norwegian
and Swcdish borders, a develop–
ment which would not only seri–
ously impair the strategic position
of both Norway and Sweden , but
also cause a serious deterioration
of the international situation in
general."
Similar considerations operated
to keep Swcden out of NATO alto–
gether. In early 1949, the Swedish
govcrnment concluded that if Swe–
dcn and Norway both joined
NATO, the Soviet Union might
feel compelled to react by moving
its line of defense farther west,
making further demands upon Fin–
land . Such a development would
not only pose a grave threat to Fin–
ni sh security and independence,
but it would also offset, at best,
whatever advantages Sweden might
gain by joining the alliance.
Thc success of the Swedish pol–
icy was made manifest in 1955
when the Soviet Union unex–
pectedly decided to termínate its
50-year tease on its naval base at
Porkkala, Finland.
The balance was working.
Still, in NATO circles, neutral
but well-armed Sweden has always
been generally regarded as a silent
partner, bound by its own national
interest to fight on the side of the
West in any future general Euro–
pean conflict. Sweden's minister of
defense was c riticized in sorne cir–
cles (including, of course, in the
Kremlin) for stating publicly in
1981: "Even if we consider our–
selves to be neutral, we know where
we belong."
June
1984
Ties to Britain , America
The Nordic peoples have always felt
a sense of kinship among themselves,
reinforced by bonds of language,
religion and similar out looks toward
society.
In the Winter 1984 edi–
tion of the U
.S.
journa l
Daedalus,
Patricia Bliss
McFate, president of the
American-Scand inavian
Foundation, writes:
"What then holds the
(Nordic] countrics to-
gether? ... Trust and
kinship.... The countries
are a family that grew up
together, sharing experi–
ences and beliefs. Now
they live apart, but they
are still siblings. And,
al though they tease one
NATO Supreme Military Commander
in Europe, General Bernard W.
Rogers (top photo), expla ins nature of
1984 "Avalanche Express" exercises
to newsmen. Under terms of
agreements, a Soviet observer, below,
was invited to watch maneuvers.
another , and occasionally quar rel
bitterly, they won't fight."
The ties between the Nordic
world and the Anglo-Saxon peoples
of Britain and North America are
also deep. They go way beyond the
a lliance structures of today and are
cemented by bonds of blood as well
as common values. Norway is a
case in point.
"Norway," according to Mr.
Holst, "is a country with its back to
Europe and facing the Atlantic.
Her security policy orientation has
been manttme and Anglo-Saxon."
Historically, good relations with
Britain and the Royal Navy have
long been paramount to Norway's
security.
These ties were further strength–
ened during World War 11 when
King Hi3akon VII fled to London ,
establishing his government in exile
there. Norway's extensive world–
wide maritime fleet was placed at
the d isposal of the all ied cause.
Ties to the United States have,
until recent ly, also been st rong,
helped by the fact that there a re
more Americans of Norwegian
blood living today than there are
Norwegians.
However, the "umbilical cord"
to America, as U.S. Ambassador to
Norway M ark E. Austad said last
year in a speech in Los Angeles, "is
thinner than in the past. Leftists
have downgraded t he natural U .S.–
Norway bond."
1n fact, Norway's espionage
affair provides a penetrating look
into the generation that first carne
to political awareness in Scandina–
via, as elsewhere in Europe, in the
1960s. Mr. Treholt had been an
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