How to Make the NB8 the New Powerhouse of Europe?

Following centuries of close ties, sometimes forged and sometimes severed by imperial boundaries, the Nordic-Baltic group has achieved an unprecedented level of unity and prominence over the past three years, forming a region with a shared vision of Europe and its role in it. This includes a consensus on recognising Russia as a direct and existential threat, an understanding that only a just peace and Ukraine’s victory will bring stability to Europe, and ever-closer relations within the EU/EFTA and NATO. Or has it? The term ‘Baltoscandia’ was coined as a geographical and cultural concept in 1928, but it remains an elusive dream, more commonly embraced on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea. Despite the overwhelming support the NB8 has shown for Ukraine and repeated assertions that Europe’s centre of gravity is shifting away from Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and London, it is not yet self-evident that the Nordic-Baltic region can emerge as the leader of Europe that is navigating between Russia and the US. How to make this dream come true?