Abstract
At the beginning of the 1990s, the debate on EU membership developed in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The main reason was the severe economic difficulties that hit these countries. However, in the Finnish case, another argument was relevant. Throughout its history, Finland has been strongly influenced by the fact that the country is situated between Europe’s east and west. As such, the tension with Sweden, on the one hand, and with Russia and the Soviet Union, on the other, has marked the country (Pesonen and Riihinen 2002: 23). Joining the EU was thus also a means of consolidating Finland in the Western political sphere.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Nicholas Aylott, Magnus Blomgren & Torbjörn Bergman
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aylott, N., Blomgren, M., Bergman, T. (2013). Finland: From Permissive Consensus to Angry Birds?. In: Political Parties in Multi-Level Polities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137315540_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137315540_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-31861-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-31554-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)