Cold War in Europe has by no means left the Scandinavian countries untroubled. In fact, from time to time, some disturbing incident occurs to show that Russia is watching the relations of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark with the Western Powers in a very unfriendly spirit, often accompanied with vigorous protests. Adhesion to the European Recovery Programme was followed by the expression of Russian disapproval. Norway and Denmark joined NATO against strong Russian opposition. Danish and Swedish fishing boats have been seized under threat of armed force when nearly twenty miles off the Baltic coast of Eastern Germany. A few months ago, a minor sensation was created by the shooting down of an unarmed Swedish aircraft in the Eastern Baltic. Recently, when the plans of the combined naval and air exercise Mainbrace designed for the protection of Norwegian and Danish territory became known, a strong Russian protest was made to the Danish foreign office that Denmark was according undue facilities to foreign warships for entering the Baltic. Geographically, the Baltic provides an outlet for Russia to the Atlantic, and it is not much impeded by winter icing south of latitude 60 degrees North. The outlets are, of course, the narrow Sound and the Kattegat, between Denmark and Sweden, the Skagerrak between Denmark and Norway, and the Great and Little Belts intersecting the Danish Islands. Whatever degree of control Russia might succeed in establishing in the Baltic itself, the outlets are protected by the power of NATO.