Finland and Russia
Finland and Russia relations
Finland – Russia relations have been conducted over many centuries, from wars between Sweden and Russia in the early 18th century, to the planned and realized creation and annexation of the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire during Napoleonic times in the early 19th century, to the dissolution of the personal union between Russia and Finland after the abdication of Russia’s last czar in 1917, and subsequent birth of modern Finland, with support of the bolshevik (Soviet) Russian government. Finland had its own civil war with minor involvement by Soviet Russia, was later invaded by the USSR, and had its internal politics influenced by it. Relations since then have been both warm and cool, fluctuating with time. Russia has an embassy in Helsinki, a consulate-general in Turku and consulates in Lappeenranta and Mariehamn. Finland has an embassy in Moscow, a consulate-general in Saint Petersburg and two branches of the consulate (in Murmansk and Petrozavodsk).
The Russian President Vladimir Putin meets the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Helsinki, on 21 August 2019
Finnish NATO membership question
In December 2021, Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs pressured Finland and Sweden to refrain from joining NATO. Russia claims that NATO’s persistent invitations for the two countries to join the military alliance would have major political and military consequences which would threaten stability in the Nordic region. Furthermore, Russia sees Finland’s inclusion in NATO as a threat to Russian national security since the United States would likely be able to deploy military equipment in Finland if the country were to join NATO.
However, on 1 January 2022, Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, reasserted Finnish sovereignty by stating that the Finnish government reserved the right to apply for NATO membership. Furthermore, Niinistö said that Russian demands threaten the “European security order”. Additionally, he believes that transatlantic cooperation is needed for the maintenance of sovereignty and security of some EU member states, including Finland.
Finland – Russia
In the wake of the 24 February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, support among the Finnish populace for NATO membership increased from below 30% to 60-70%. On 12 May 2022, president Niinistö and prime minister Sanna Marin announced that Finland would begin the process of applying for NATO membership. On 18 May 2022, Finland formally applied to join NATO, simultaneously with Sweden.
On June 30, 2022, NATO leaders made a historic decision to invite Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, said in a press conference that the agreement reached between Turkey, Finland and Sweden paved the way for the decision to invite both Nordic countries to NATO.
