The relations between the Nordic states and Russia have since the onset of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014 been shaped by the ongoing conflict in the faraway Black Sea region. Sweden’s and Finland’s joint application to join NATO in spring 2022, which was prepared in reaction to Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine a few months earlier, fundamentally redrew the geopolitical map of Northern Europe and disputed traditional principles of European security policy, considerably affecting the Austrian debate on neutrality as well.
The lecture series focuses on the long lines in the history of Nordic-Russian relations between conflict and coexistence. In the course of the term, prominent historians and political scientists from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia will present their ongoing research stretching from the early modern period to the present. The lecture series is organized jointly by Dr. Lars Fredrik Stöcker (study program "History and Culture of the Baltic Sea Region", Department of Scandinavian Studies) and Univ.-Prof. Dr. Oliver Schmitt (Institute for East European History) in cooperation with the FWF Cluster of Excellence “Eurasian Transformations” and the Austrian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies.
