Angela Kane expressed a desire for a diversity of opinions, criticizing NATO’s status as a “monolith of a military alliance” in Europe

Sweden and Finland, which have traditionally been neutral countries, are facing criticism as their accession to NATO draws nearer.

A former senior official in the UN said she is “very sorry that Sweden and Finland gave up their neutrality and made an application to join NATO” during the DMZ Forum 2022, which was held at the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday.

Angela Kane, vice president of the International Institute for Peace and a senior fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Nonproliferation, took part in the forum’s international session, titled “Shattered Peace and Rebuilding Common Security: Learning from Success and Failure of the European Experiences.” During her 35-year career with the UN, Kane served as assistant secretary-general for political affairs, under-secretary-general for management, and high representative for disarmament affairs.

Kane observed that European countries that have maintained their status as neutral states — including not only Sweden and Finland but also Ireland, Austria, Switzerland and Malta — have played a major role in preventing clashes between major powers through their mediation and their balanced approach to diplomacy. For Kane, Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO means that “the variety [. . .] that provides a different viewpoint of what’s happening is gone.”

Kane said that the Swiss government may also have to reconsider the option of moving closer to NATO, describing this as a “deplorable situation.”

“I would like to have different views, different opinions, and not to have this monolith of a military alliance that basically is dominating whatever happens in Europe,” she said.

While Sweden and Finland have recently decided to abandon their status as neutral countries and join NATO, other states such as Ireland, Austria, Switzerland and Malta all continue to advocate military neutrality outside of NATO.

Moon Chung-in, chairman of the Sejong Institute and moderator of the session, also voiced concerns over Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO.

“As can be seen in its role in the Helsinki process, Finland has greatly contributed to peace in Europe through the wisdom of a balanced foreign policy, but it has now suddenly decided to join NATO. The same is true of Sweden,” Moon said.

“The threat of Russia cannot be underestimated, but now the buffer zone has disappeared in the military conflict between NATO on the one hand and Russia and Belarus on the other. There’s no space for multifaceted security cooperation such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Is that good for European peace or bad?”

Moon said that Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO will not only eliminate the neutral zone between Russia and NATO but will also effectively extend NATO eastward, which could increase tensions between the two blocs.

Sweden and Finland submitted applications to join NATO on May 18, less than three months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Their admission to NATO awaits the ratification of just five of 30 member states (as of Sept. 17, those five were Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey).

The Sejong Institute and the Free University of Berlin jointly hosted the forum’s international session.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter