Northern Dimension to include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, the importance of the Northern Dimension has increased considerably: eight EU Member States (Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Sweden) surround the Baltic Sea, and the EU’s shared border with Russia has lengthened. Recent years have seen far-reaching changes in the geopolitical map of northern Europe. The Baltic States regained their independence in 1991. Finland and Sweden joined the EU in 1995, and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in 2004. These events greatly increased the Northern and Baltic “presence” of the EU, and substantially lengthened the common border shared by the
Finland–Sweden border Finland–Sweden border The Finnish-Swedish border is the border between the countries of Finland and Sweden. Almost the entire border runs through water: along the Tornio River and its tributaries, and in the Gulf of Bothnia. Only a few kilometres of the border are on dry land. Because of the Schengen treaty and the Nordic Passport Union, the border can be crossed mostly freely. In the north, the Finnish–Swedish border begins from the Treriksröset tripoint at the border of Norway, located in the Koltajärvi lake near Kilpisjärvi, which is also the northernmost point of Sweden. The first 230 metres of the