A treaty signed with the Soviet Union in 1948 became the basis for “Finlandisation”
, his French counterpart, was asked about one possible solution: “Finlandisation”, a reference to Finland’s officially neutral status during the cold war. It was “one model on the table”, acknowledged Mr Macron, but he insisted diplomats would have to invent something new. The news sparked anger in Ukraine and also in Finland, where the experience is not remembered fondly.
As Europe hardened into opposing blocs led by America and the Soviet Union at the dawn of the cold war, Finland took on a unique status. Though it had resisted a full-scale Soviet invasion during the second world war it was forced to cede large swathes of territory, pay reparations and legalise the Communist Party of Finland. In the immediate post-war period, the country had few connections with the West and was menaced by its giant neighbour to the east. .
In practice, the price of Finnish independence was that the Soviet Union would exert significant influence on the country’s politics. Urho Kekkonen, Finland’s president through much of the cold war, made friendship with the Soviet Union a cornerstone of his time in office, and turned the supposedly indispensable role he played in safeguarding relations with the Kremlin to his political advantage.
Nor did neutrality make Finland immune from Soviet influence over its foreign policy. To appease the Soviet Union after it signed an agreement in 1972 with the European Economic Community, a forerunner to the European Union, Finland also joined Comecon, a Soviet-led bloc, as an observer in 1973.
Despite the constraints, Finland flourished . It maintained robust defence capabilities and remained a liberal democracy. With the end of the cold war, it could pursue a truly independent foreign policy. In 1994 it joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace, a programme of defence co-operation that falls far short of full membership, and in 1995 it became a member of the European Union.
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