Wetterberg asks which city would lead a united Nordic state

Swedish historian and author Gunnar Wetterberg has revived his proposal for a united Nordic federal state, raising the question of which city would become its capital. He also suggested the role could be shared among several cities, as West Germany once did, mbl.is reported.

Wetterberg visited Iceland last week and spoke at the Nordic House. On Friday, he revisited the idea from his 2010 book, Förbundsstaten Norden, or The Nordic Federal State, which proposed that Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden unite as one country. He argued such a state could become one of the world’s most powerful.

“Norwegians would of course say that the Swedes just want to take their oil, but there would be no need to worry about that,” Wetterberg said. Each country could manage its own resources, he said, with the five agreeing on how much control would be shared.

The Nordic Society said in a statement marking Wetterberg’s visit that the proposal was considered bold, even far-fetched, when the book was published. It also noted that the world had changed in the 16 years since then, with war in Europe, less predictable relations with the United States and renewed interest in Nordic cooperation over Arctic and other issues.

Wetterberg, 73, is working on his 27th book, about Swedish foreign policy. He has also worked as a diplomat in Hanoi and Geneva and led a think tank at Sweden’s finance ministry that examined aspects of the public sector during the 1970s.