Closer to Germany than Sweden. Finland?s way towards the membership application for the EC 1990?1992

During the Cold War Nordic countries had formulated an unusually well-integrated region. Yet, in the 1990s the appeal of Nordic cooperation in different policy fields was significantly reduced and the approaches of different Nordic countries to the Western integration were full of ambiguities. One of the paradoxes was the failure to cooperate as Finland and Sweden applied for the membership in the European Community (EC). This article demonstrates how Finland turned away from the Nordic framework towards Germany when considering its possibilities to join the EC. The German support during Finland?s membership negotiations is widely known, but the article highlights how Finnish politicians and foreign officials aligned themselves with their German colleagues already before handing Finland?s EC application in Brussels on 18 March 1992. At the same time it provides new evidence on Germany?s role in the northern enlargement of the EU.