Dissimilar historical experiences have led Estonia and Finland to practice different foreign policies. Whereas Finland remains outside NATO and maintains a pragmatic approach in dealing with Russia, Estonia relies on NATO membership and frequently warns its fellow Europeans of Russia’s ambitions. But are Finland and Estonia that different after all? Are the growing uncertainty in the Euro-Atlantic region and increasing great power competition drawing them closer? The event brings together Finnish and Estonian national security experts to discuss the state of European security and the foreign policy agendas of the two countries. The aim of the session is to identify common dynamics and divergences regarding Finland’s and Estonia’s strategic cultures and to foster mutual understanding on European and regional security issues on both sides of the Gulf of Finland.
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Matti Pesu
Matti Pesu is a Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), where he works in the European Union research programme. His research interests include Finnish foreign, security and defence policy and Euroatlantic security. Pesu received his PhD from the University of Tampere.