E. V. Korunova. The Problem of Establishing a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Northern Europe
during the Cold War: Geopolitical Aspects and Security Dilemma // Petersburg Historical Journal,
no. 2, 2026, pp. 157–167.

DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2026_2_157

Abstract:

The article examines the attempts to establish a nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in Northern
Europe during the first decades of the Cold War. The text provides a comprehensive overview of the discourse within governmental circles, with a particular emphasis on initiatives undertaken by the USSR and Finland. It also offers a detailed analysis of the stance adopted by the Scandinavian states on this subject. This study will focus on the argumentation of the parties, the influence of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the factors that prevented an agreement from being reached.

Key words: Northern Europe, Scandinavian states (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), Finland, non-alignment, neutrality, NATO, USSR, Cold War, nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZ), Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), nuclear-free status, regional security.

Author:

Korunova, Evgeniia Valeryevna — Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Deputy Head of the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia).
E-mail: ekorunova@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0009-0004-2728-758X

References:
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Dörfer, I. The European Neutrals in the Strategy of the Reagan Administration. In Sundelius B. (ed.). Neutral Democracies and the New Cold War. Westview Press, 1987, pp. 134–135.

Komarov, A. A. SSSR i Skandinavskii oboronitel’nyi soyuz (1948–1949) [USSR and the Scandinavian Defense Union (1948–1949). In Russ.]. In Chernysheva, O. V. (ed.). Severnaya Evropa: problemy istorii. Iss. 4. Moscow, Nauka publ., 2003, pp. 90–105.

Korunova, E. V. Neitralitet ili uchastie? Vtoraya mirovaya voina i evolyutsiya vneshnepoliticheskikh kontseptsii skandinavskikh stran [Neutrality or Participation? World War II and the Evolution of Scandinavian Foreign Policy Concepts. In Russ.]. In Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 25: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya i mirovaya politika. 2020. Vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 222–256. URL: https://fmp.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/55 (date of access 10.10.2025).

Korunova, E. V. Ot yadernykh ambitsii k dobrovol’nomu otkazu: shvedskaya yadernaya programma v usloviyakh holodnoi voiny (1945–1970) [From Nuclear Ambition to Voluntary Renunciation: The Swedish Nuclear Program in the Cold War (1945–1970). In Russ.]. In Klio. 2025. No. 9 (225), pp. 52–57.

Lassinantti, G. Finland, Sverige och försvarsdebatten. In Björnsson, A. (ed.). Försvaret främst. En antologi om hur Sverige kan och bör försvara sig. Lund, Celannders förslag. 2015, pp. 214–222.
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Rupasov, A. I., Samuelson, L. Sovetsko-shvedskie otnosheniya: vtoraya polovina 1940-kh — nachalo 1960-kh gg. Moscow, ROSSPEN publ., 2014, 268 p.

Undén, Ö. Tankar om utrikespolitik. Stockholm, Utrikespolitiska Institutet press., 1963, 224 p.

Zaretskaya, O. V. Sozdanie Severnogo oboronitel’nogo soyuza: norvezhskaya i shvedskaya politiki v kontse 40-kh godov XX veka [The Creation of the Nordic Defense Union: Norwegian and Swedish Policies in the Late 1940s. In Russ.]. In Shrader, T. A., Zharov, B. S. (eds.). Skandinavskie chteniya 2005 goda. St. Petersburg, Kunstkamera publ., 2005, pp. 81–87.

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