- A Swedish woman living at the border with Finland compares the sudden ban on visiting neighbors to erecting the Berlin Wall in the middle of the market
- The initial shock due to the blockade turns into a nagging belief that relations between the Scandinavian countries may deteriorate significantly 66 years after the abolition of borders on the Peninsula
- The obvious opportunity to live in one country and do business in another, or to share infrastructure across borders, has suddenly become questioned
- Not only in Scandinavia, the health crisis has led to something that looks more like a diplomatic crisis, especially in countries that differ in their approach to fighting a pandemic
- From the beginning, Sweden has become an example of a country that goes its own way and therefore has problems with harmonizing activities with its neighbors
Original article on POLITICO.eu
When Finland closed the border with Sweden to stop the spread of the coronavirus, a Swedish deputy, Ida Karkiainen recalled the Cold War.
Years of integration between her hometown of Haparanda in the north of Sweden and Tornio on the Finnish side have been suspended day by day. On the border, which residents have been trying so long to remove, the fence has grown again.
“It’s like the Berlin Wall has grown up on our market,” said Karkiainen POLITICO.
The inhabitants of other Swedish border regions are similarly shocked, because Norway and Denmark also joined Finland and forbade the Swedes to cross common borders for fear of bringing the coronavirus with them.
Today, more than three months after the ban, the initial shock turns into a nagging belief that relations between Scandinavian countries may deteriorate significantly.
The worst are those who lived from one-day tourists
In the forested western regions of Sweden, where shopping centers focused on serving one-day tourists from Norway are empty and in quiet Stockholm souvenir shops, waiting for ferries from Finland, the thought springs up: perhaps trouble-free traveling between Scandinavian countries should no longer be treated for all their citizens as something obvious.
It’s a change with potentially serious consequences that puts into question the 66-year integration project.
The possibility of living in one country and doing business in another, or sharing infrastructure across borders, i.e. the symbols of the Scandinavian integration project are suddenly being questioned.
“Many people from both the private and public sectors feel betrayed by closing their borders,” said POLITICO Philip Sandberg, mayor of Lund in the south of Sweden, a city half an hour’s drive from the bridge to Denmark. – It is difficult to believe in continuing integration in the future, since things can change from day to day.
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The bridge over the Oresund, connecting Denmark with Sweden
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This change shows how in some parts of Europe the coronavirus-induced health crisis has resulted in something more like a diplomatic crisis, especially in countries that differ in their approach to fighting a pandemic and have different fatalities.
In the first days of the pandemic in March, the Dutch and Belgian authorities faced differences in their approach to the problem. It also sparked between medical officers in England and Scotland.
Sweden is sorry that it stands out
However, from the beginning Sweden has become an example of a country that goes its own way and therefore has problems harmonizing activities with its neighbors.
Sweden’s free approach to fighting the virus – schools, businesses and borders remained open – alarmed its neighbors, who were anxiously watching Sweden’s coronavirus-related death rate to one of the highest in Europe.
Now that the immediate threat of COVID-19 is beginning to weaken, officials in different capitals have to deal with damage to Scandinavian relations caused first Sweden’s persistence in implementing its own approachand then the stubbornness of her neighbors in prohibiting Swedes from entering their territory.
“I’m afraid these scars will heal for a long time,” said Foreign Minister Ann Linde in a recent interview with the Swedish daily DN.
When Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg announced the extension of the ban on guests from Sweden last week, she also admitted that there was tension in relations between Scandinavian countries.
“We have to be honest and say it is a difficult thing for our region,” she told reporters.
The contemporary integration of Scandinavian countries dates back to 1954 and the introduction of the Nordic Passport Union, which allowed citizens of these countries to travel freely around the region and freely choose the place of work and residence.
Since then, Scandinavian politicians have worked effectively to eliminate barriers to integration, ensuring, for example, that a Norwegian electrician will be certified to work in Finland, said Johan Strang, a lecturer in Scandinavian studies at the University of Helsinki.
Scandinavian countries differed in their accession to NATO and the European Union, but their commitment to their own integration remained unquestioned, and the Passport Union became an important symbol of success for them, said Strang.
This mechanism first began to grind in 2015, when Denmark closed the border with Sweden during the refugee crisis.
Denmark again tightened its border controls in 2019, explaining this by fear of a wave of crime in Sweden and then in March this year due to a coronavirus. This time Finland and Norway followed her steps.
Swedes in isolation and in panic
In June, when the death rate fell in all Scandinavian countries except Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark loosened border controls among themselves, but not with Sweden.
Swedish companies living from Scandinavian frontier trade look at it with horror. Large shopping centers in western Sweden, focused on serving one-day tourists from Norway, say that their turnover has dropped by about 90 percent and are increasingly worried about their future.
Small businesses living on guests arriving on large ferries from Finland are reporting similar collapse.
“This year is at a loss,” said 38-year-old Rana Sohel, who runs a gift shop near the Old Town. – I closed two of the three locations, because maintaining them all would be too expensive.
In southern Sweden, mayor of Lund, Sandberg, said a report prepared by the local lobbying group Greater Copenhagen just before closing borders showed that further integration of the region, including Copenhagen and southern Sweden, could bring almost three billion Danish crowns (400 million euros) per year due to increased production resulting in higher tax revenues and new jobs. Due to the closing of borders, however, there is no chance that these profits will materialize.
“Things will look different now,” he said. – If we have less integration, the recession will be deeper and more people will lose their jobs.
In Haparanda, local MP Karkiainen said locals suffer because many public facilities remain closed. Plans had to be postponed so that the children of Haparanda would participate in swimming on the Finnish side, she said.
“There are many things that disturb people,” she added. – We now have to think hard about what conclusions we can draw from this situation.
Editors: Michał Broniatowski
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