Foreign relations of Finland
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Finland's basic foreign policy goal, from the end of the Continuation War with the U.S.S.R. in 1944 until 1991, was to avoid great-power conflicts and to build mutual confidence with the Soviet Union. Although the country was culturally, socially, and politically Western, Finns realized they must live in peace with the U.S.S.R. and take no action that might be interpreted as a security threat. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 opened up dramatic new possibilities for Finland and has resulted in the Finns actively seeking greater participation in Western political and economic structures.
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Relations With the Soviet Union and With Russia
The principal architect of the post-1944 foreign policy of neutrality was J.K. Paasikivi, who was President from 1946 to 1956. Urho Kekkonen, President from 1956 until 1981, further developed this policy, stressing that Finland should be an active rather than a passive neutral. This policy is now popularly known as the "Paasikivi-Kekkonen Line."
Humiliation
Finland signed the Paris Peace Treaty with the Allied in February 1947, which:
- confirmed Finland's concessions in the Moscow Peace Treaty with exception for the Soviet lease of Hanko Peninsula in south-westernmost Finland
- limited the size of Finland's defense forces
- ratified the cessions after the Winter War and the Continuation War
- gave the Soviet Union a naval base at Porkkala 30 kilometers west of Helsinki including rights of free transit
- contained unnecessary but particularly humiliating provisions directed against "Fascism in Finland"
- called for Finland to pay to the Soviet Union war reparations amounting to an estimated $570 million in 1952, the year the payments ended.
The development from the Abyssinia crisis, indicating the failure of the League of Nations, to the Paris Peace Treaty, when the last hope of more than oral support from the ideologically akin Western countries faded, convinced the Finns that they had absolutely no-one else than themselves to rely on in their problematic relations with the Soviet Union.
The Finnish Army, which in defense against the Soviet Union had numbered to over 500,000, was to be limited to 34,400 men, the navy to 4,500 men and 10,000 tons, and the air force to 3,000 men and 60 planes. With this provision the Western Allied had, seemingly, left Finland in the Soviet Union's power.
The political clauses of the Paris Peace Treaty were particularly alienating. Through this clause, the Allied agreed to the Kremlin view that the Soviet Union represented "Liberty" and Finland represented "Fascism". The peace treaty stipulated that the country should take all measures necessary to secure "human rights and the fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, of press and publication, of religious worship, of political opinion and of public meeting." Finland's government undertook further to prevent the resurgence of Fascist organizations or any others, "whether political, military or semi-military, whose purpose it is to deprive the people of their democratic rights." With the exception that the victor's interpretation of "Fascist organizations" turned out to be wide, these clauses had no practical effects.
Reassurance
(See also: Finlandization)
For the survival of Finland as an independent sovereign country, firmly convicted in the value of Democracy, Capitalism, human and civil rights, Finland had to find a formula to convince Stalin and his successors, that the Soviet Union's vital interests could be met voluntarily by the Finns. This was the gist of the Paasikivi doctrine.
In April 1948, Finland signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union. Under this mutual assistance pact, Finland was obligated — with the aid of the Soviet Union, if necessary — to resist armed attacks by Germany or its allies against Finland or against the U.S.S.R. through Finland. At the same time, the agreement recognized Finland's desire to remain outside great-power conflicts. This agreement was renewed for 20 years in 1955, in 1970, and again in 1983 to the year 2003.
Finland responded cautiously in 1990-91 to the collapse of the Soviet Union. They unilaterally abrogated restrictions imposed by the 1947 and 1948 treaties, joined in voicing Nordic concern over the coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and gave increasing unofficial encouragement to Baltic independence.
At the same time, by replacing the Soviet-Finnish mutual assistance pact with treaties on general cooperation and trade, Finns put themselves on an equal footing while retaining a friendly bilateral relationship. Finland now is boosting cross-border commercial ties and touting its potential as a commercial gateway to Russia. It has reassured Russia that it will not raise claims for Finnish territory seized by the U.S.S.R., and continues to reaffirm the importance of good bilateral relations.
Multilateral Relations
Finnish foreign policy emphasizes its participation in multilateral organizations. Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the European Union in 1995. As noted, the country also is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace as well as an observer in the North Atlantic Cooperation Council and the Western European Union.
Finland is well represented in the UN civil service in proportion to its population and belongs to several of its specialized and related agencies. Finnish troops have participated in UN peacekeeping activities since 1956, and the Finns continue to be one of the largest per capita contributors of peacekeepers in the world. Finland is an active participant in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in early 1995 assumed the co-chairmanship of the OSCE's Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Cooperation with the other Scandinavian countries also is important to Finland, and it has been a member of the Nordic Council since 1955. Under the council's auspices, the Nordic countries have created a common labor market and have abolished immigration controls among themselves. The council also serves to coordinate social and cultural policies of the participating countries and has promoted increased cooperation in many fields.
In addition to the organizations already mentioned, Finland is a member of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the International Finance Corporation, the International Development Association, the Bank for International Settlements, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and INTELSAT.
Relations between the United States and Finland are warm. Some 200,000 U.S. citizens visit Finland annually, and about 3,000 U.S. citizens are resident there. The U.S. has an educational exchange program in Finland that is comparatively large for a Western European country of Finland's size. It is financed in part from a trust fund established in 1976 from Finland's final repayment of a U.S. loan made in the aftermath of World War I.
Finland is bordered on the east by Russia and, as one of the former Soviet Union's neighbors, has been of particular interest and importance to the U.S. both during the Cold War and in its aftermath. Before the U.S.S.R. dissolved in 1991, longstanding U.S. policy was to support Finnish neutrality while maintaining and reinforcing Finland's historic, cultural, and economic ties with the West. The U.S. has welcomed Finland's increased participation since 1991 in Western economic and political structures.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Finland has moved steadily toward integration into Western institutions and abandoned its formal policy of neutrality, which has been recast as a policy of military nonalliance coupled with the maintenance of a credible, independent defense. Finland's 1994 decision to buy 64 F-18 Hornet fighter planes from the United States signaled the abandonment of the country's policy of balanced arms purchases from East and West.
In 1994, Finland joined NATO's Partnership for Peace; the country also is an observer in the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. Finland became a full member of the European Union (EU) in January 1995, at the same time acquiring observer status in the EU's defense arm, the Western European Union.
Economic and trade relations between Finland and the United States are active and were bolstered by the F-18 purchase. U.S.-Finland trade totals almost $5 billion annually. The U.S. receives about 7% of Finland's exports--mainly pulp and paper, ships, and machinery --and provides about 7% of its imports--principally computers, semiconductors, aircraft, and machinery.
Disputes - international: none
International organization participation
See also: Politics of Finland
References
- CIA World Factbook - Finland (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/fi.html)