Finland–Sweden relations

Bilateral relations

Finnish–Swedish relations

Finland	Sweden
Diplomatic mission
Ambassador Nicola Clase

Swedish and Finnish flag

independence from Russia in 1917, Finland and Sweden have been close partners, enjoying a special relationship. The number of Finnish-Swedish connections and the quality of cooperation in most areas of the government is unique when compared to other international relations involving both countries. The Swedish language has an official status in Finland, whilst Finns form the largest ethnic minority in Sweden, estimated to be about 675,000.^[1]

Prime minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson visiting Prime minister of Finland Sanna Marin

meet in Helsinki on 28 October 2022

Both Finland and Sweden joined the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia has since stopped its electricity export to Finland, with Finland expecting to import from Sweden as a result.^[7]

Finland has an

embassy in Stockholm, consulate general in Gothenburg and 21 consulates in Borlänge, Borås, Eskilstuna, Gävle, Haparanda, Halmstad, Karlshamn, Karlskoga, Karlstad, Landskrona, Luleå, Malmö, Norrköping, Oskarshamn, Skellefteå, Sundsvall, Trollhättan, Uppsala, Umeå, Visby and Västerås.^[8] Sweden has an embassy in Helsinki, consulate general in Mariehamn, and 17 consulates in Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kokkola, Kotka, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Mikkeli, Oulu, Jakobstad, Pori, Raseborg, Rovaniemi, Tampere, Tornio, Turku and Vaasa.^[9]

On a larger scale both Finland and Sweden also share a special relationship with all the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland and Norway). The two countries became members of the European Union in 1995.

Country comparison

Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson visiting Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin

in Helsinki in 2022

Embassy of Finland in Stockholm

Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki

The border between Sweden and Finland in Haparanda and Tornio

	Finland	Sweden
Flag
Coat of Arms
Population	5,553,000	10,481,937
Area	338,455 km2	450,295 km2
Capital city	Helsinki	Stockholm
Largest city (metropolitan area)	Helsinki – 1,536,810	Stockholm – 2,415,139
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Current leader	Sauli Niinistö (President) Sanna Marin (Prime Minister)	Carl XVI Gustaf (King) Ulf Kristersson (Prime Minister)
Current Foreign minister	Pekka Haavisto	Tobias Billström
Current Minister of Defense	Antti Kaikkonen	Pål Jonson
Main language	Finnish and Swedish	Swedish
Official or recognized minority languages	Sami languages, Romani, Finnish Sign Language, Karelian	Sami languages, Romani, Yiddish and Meänkieli
Main religions	67.8% Orthodox 1.7% other religion 29.4% no religion	60.2% Lutheran 8.5% other 31.3% no religion
GDP (nominal)	$267.61 billion	$603.92 billion
GDP (nominal) per capita	$53,745	$56,361
GDP (PPP)	$231.3 billion	$684.45 billion
GDP (PPP) per capita	$42,165	$63,877
Real GDP growth rate	1.15%	1.29%
HDI	0.940	0.947
Currency	Euro	Swedish krona (SEK)
Military expenditure	1.41% of GDP	1.18% of GDP
Labour Force	2,685,000	5,268,520

History

Viking period and Swedish crusades

Contact between Sweden and what is now Finland was considerable even during pre-Christian times. The

Vikings were known to Finns due to both their participation in commerce and their plundering. There is evidence of possible Viking settlements on the Finnish mainland.^[10]

The Åland Islands were probably settled from Sweden during the Viking period.

During the 11th and 12th centuries, Sweden gradually became a unified Christian kingdom. According to the archaeological finds,

bishop of Finland. There were several secular powers who aimed to bring Finland under their rule but the Swedish regent Birger Jarl established Swedish rule in Finland through the Second Swedish Crusade

, which is most often dated at 1249.

Middle Ages

The traditional lands of Sweden

. (Different stages of expansion marked by shades. Borders as of year 1700.)

Finland gradually became an integrated and important part of Sweden. Finland became known as

Åbo. Åbo was one of the biggest towns in the kingdom of Sweden, and its population included German merchants and craftsmen. Otherwise the degree of urbanization was very low in medieval Finland. During the 12th and 13th centuries, great numbers of Swedish settlers moved to the southern and north-western coasts of Finland, including Åland

and the archipelago between Åbo and the Åland Islands. In these regions, the Swedish language is widely spoken even today. Swedish came to be the language of the high-status people in many other parts of Finland as well.

In 1362, representatives from Finland were called to participate in the elections for

king of Sweden

. That year is often held to signify the incorporation of Finland into the kingdom of Sweden. As in the Scandinavian part of the kingdom, a gentry or (lower) nobility consisted of magnates and yeomen who could afford armament for a man and a horse. These were concentrated in the southern part of Finland.

After the

a war between Sweden and Russia was fought. The fortress-town of Viborg

stood against a Russian siege.

Vasa era and Cudgel War

Jakob Bincks

.

King Gustav Vasa died in 1560 and his crown was passed to his three sons in separate turns. The common people of Finland suffered during this period because of drafts, high taxes, and abuse by military personnel. This resulted in the Cudgel War of 1596–1597, a desperate peasant rebellion, which was suppressed brutally and bloodily. A peace treaty (the Treaty of Teusina) with Russia in 1595 moved the border of Finland further to the east and north, very roughly where the modern border lies.

An important part of the 16th-century history of Finland was growth of the area settled by the farming population. Farmers from the province of Savonia settled the vast wilderness regions in Middle Finland, and the original Sami population often had to leave. Some of the wilderness settled was traditional hunting and fishing territory of Karelian hunters. During the 1580s, this resulted in a bloody guerrilla warfare between the Finnish settlers and Karelians in some regions, especially in Ostrobothnia.

19th century

In 1809 Sweden lost Finland to Russia after the Finnish War.

Independence

In 1917 Finland got independence, during World War I. Sweden recognized the independence, but required Åland Islands to become part of Sweden. During the Finnish Civil War 1918 Sweden occupied Åland. The League of Nations solved the dispute by not changing the border, but requiring the Swedish language of Åland to be kept.

World War II

President Urho Kekkonen and Gustaf VI Adolf

in Stockholm in 1956

During World War II Sweden declared its neutrality, but in the Winter war it declared itself non-belligerent and supported Finland's cause to a limited extent. This included over 8,000 Swedish army and air force volunteers. Sweden also accepted and cared for a host of Finnish "war"-children during World War II. After the war, Sweden had a clear headstart in the post-war economical development, much due to its neutrality in the war.

In September 1944, Finland relocated elements of its signals intelligence capabilities to Sweden as part of the Stella Polaris operation, allowing Sweden access to intercepted Soviet communications in exchange for security in the event of a renewed Soviet invasion of Finland.^[11][12]

Postwar era

The love-hate relationship between Finland and Sweden in any sport is always a special addition to the competition

It is an old tradition for the first official foreign visit of a new prime minister from either country to visit the other. However, in June 2014, the newly elected Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb broke with tradition and used his first official visit abroad to visit Estonia.^[13] Since then, Antti Rinne also made his first official visit to Estonia but Juha Sipilä and Sanna Marin both made their first official visit to Sweden.^[14][15][16]

In 2014, the two countries announced a special defense partnership between them.^[17]

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe in 2020 and 2021, Finland and Sweden chose to respond to it in differing ways. Sweden implemented generally laxer restrictions while Finland closed its borders among other things. This is due to the countries' differing histories: Finland's traumatic experiences during World War II have left their mark on Finnish society and the country has thus maintained a larger preparedness for crisis, whereas Sweden cut back on its preparedness after the end of the Cold War and decided to use the funds for other purposes. What, if any, impact this will have on official state relations is unclear, but officials in both countries have had to comment on public concerns relating to Finnish–Swedish relations in the countries' medias.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]}

European Union

Both countries became members of the European Union in 1995.

NATO

Both countries had not pursued

• Foreign relations of Finland
• Foreign relations of Sweden
• Finland–Sweden border
• Sweden Finns
• Finnish Swedes
• 1995 enlargement of the European Union
• Finland–NATO relations
• Sweden–NATO relations
• Finland–Russia relations
• Russia–Sweden relations
• Finland–Turkey relations
• Sweden–Turkey relations
• Accession of Finland to NATO
• Accession of Sweden to NATO
• Neutral and Non-Aligned European States

References