Shved O. The Politics of Scandinavian countries towards European integration (1950's - until the first half of the 1970's).

This thesis analyses the origin and history of a complex problem - the foreign policy of Scandinavian countries in the context of European integration during the 1950s -1970s. The research explains foreign policy viewed through the prism of governmental attitudes, decision-making processes and other influential factors. The research also focuses on the evolution of European integration politics of national states both of the Scandinavian region as a whole and looking at each country individually (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland). The research also studies the inter-relationship between the development of Nordic cooperation and the European policies of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland in the aforementioned period. The study explores pro and contra arguments, alternative schemes of integration (e.g. EFTA, NORDEK), political mechanisms, institutional features and the history of the creation of Nordic institutions such as the Nordic Council, the Council of Ministers, and cross-border cooperation between government agencies. For example, the Scandinavian defence negotiations of 1948-1949 not only helped to mould the foreign policy concepts of the Scandinavian leaders but also reinforced the perception of most otheir decision-makers that Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden were small states, highly dependent on the world around them.