The NATO Washington Summit: Nordic Allies Emerge Stronger

NATO’s Nordic allies can breathe a momentary sigh of relief as they depart the 2024 Washington summit. They helped deliver a summit declaration that addresses many key concerns and makes strong commitments to counter Russian aggression and sustain support to Ukraine. Like their colleagues in other capitals across the alliance, they also left with homework to plug capability gaps, build military infrastructure, and further bolster defense production. 

The summit demonstrated NATO’s commitment to strengthening the northern flank and taking “full advantage of the accession of Finland and Sweden”, with their robust capabilities and strategic location. Under NATO’s new command structure, all Nordic countries will fall under Joint Force Command Norfolk, which will facilitate deeper integration of forces and advance military mobility and sustainment across the Atlantic and Northern Europe. Finland will also host a new NATO land command. 

For allies on NATO’s northeastern flank, a firm and unified approach to Russia is critical. The 2024 declaration unequivocally identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to allies’ security and uses more forceful language than last year’s to condemn the Kremlin and countries enabling Russian aggression. This year, by outlining benchmarks and next steps in NATO’s strategic approach toward Russia, allies ensured that they can deliver on an ambitious transformation agenda in the coming months. 

Allies also reiterated their commitment to countering hybrid threats, underscoring NATO’s policy that hybrid attacks against a NATO ally may trigger Article 5. Countries around the Baltic Sea, which are facing intensifying levels of grey-zone attacks, met to discuss Russia’s direct and indirect hybrid actions against their countries ahead of the summit.

Individual allies launched important capability initiatives. Canada, Finland, and the United States announced a partnership to jointly produce polar icebreakers and other capabilities that are sorely needed to enhance allies’ access to the strategically important Arctic. The eight Baltic Sea nations and Germany also agreed to jointly procure naval mines to strengthen NATO posture in the Baltic Sea. Securing the sea in the event of a conflict is particularly important to Finland and the Baltic states, as they could be cut off from critical supply lines. 

Maintaining unity was a key priority for all allies, not least for the Nordic countries. Prior to the summit, Norway, Sweden, and Finland issued a statement of common goals, and on the sidelines of the meeting, Nordic defense ministers reiterated their intent to strengthen Nordic cooperation on collective defense production and procurement. By speaking with one voice, the Nordic allies, which have grown ever closer since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, achieved mutually beneficial outcomes, elevated their message, and minimized the potential for the Kremlin to exploit divisions.