Insight
A new era of Finnish foreign policy begins by Helmi Pillai, 19 December 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to unprecedented changes to Finnish foreign policy. Applying for NATO membership should only be the beginning. At 1,340 kilometres, Finland has by far the EU’s longest border with Russia. Despite their tumultuous history, the two countries have maintained a peaceful and co-operative relationship for decades. However, Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine has caused a significant change to Finnish-Russian relations, the clearest consequence being Finland’s decision to apply for NATO membership. From the Finnish point of view, Russia’s actions in Ukraine have made Finland’s security environment much more unstable and destroyed Moscow’s credibility as a partner. To cope with the new reality, Finland must reinvent itself as a foreign policy actor. Managing relations with Russia Throughout the Cold War, Finland maintained peace with the Soviet Union by following a foreign policy strategy known as ‘Finlandisation’ – a state of forced neutrality in which Finland adapted its foreign and domestic policies to suit the demands of its Soviet neighbour. In exchange, the Soviet Union acquiesced to Finland remaining an independent market democracy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland joined the EU in 1995. Since then, Finland has also become a close partner of NATO; a founding member of the Nordic Defence Co-operation (NORDEFCO), a political and military co-operation framework aimed at improving the operational capabilities of the Nordic militaries; and a member of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a UK-led high-readiness task force consisting of the Nordic states, the Baltic states, and the Netherlands. Despite taking part in these defence co-operation initiatives, staying outside military alliances remained a cornerstone of Finnish foreign policy until the February invasion. Before that, Finland had no active plans to join NATO. In January, Prime Minister Sanna Marin still considered Finland’s NATO accession to be a “very unlikely” prospect during her time in office. Until the invasion most Finns considered the costs of membership to outweigh its benefits. In 2021, only 26 per cent of Finns were in favour of Finland’s NATO accession. In a November 2022 poll, however, the number had increased to 78 per cent.
CER INSIGHT: A new era of Finnish foreign policy begins 19 December 2022
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