Foreign relations of Finland

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Republic of Finland

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Finland’s foreign policy responsibilities are given by the constitution. According to the latest constitution of 2000, the President (currently Tarja Halonen) leads foreign policy "in cooperation" with the government (currently Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb), except that the government leads EU affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements the foreign policy.

During the Cold War, Finland conducted its foreign policy in association with the Soviet Union and simultaneously stressed Nordic cooperation (as a member of the Nordic Council). After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Finland freed itself from the last restrictions imposed on it by the Paris peace treaties of 1947 and the Finno-Soviet Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. Although opposed by socialists and agrarians, the government filed an EU membership application three months after the dissolution of the USSR and became a member in 1995. Unlike all other post-Soviet countries in the Baltic sea and elsewhere, Finland did not attempt to join NATO and many politicians even opposed NATO, although defense policymakers quietly took the liabilities of converting to NATO equipment and contributing troops.

President Martti Ahtisaari and the coalition governments led Finland closer to the core EU in the late 1990s. Finland was considered a cooperative model state, and Finland did not oppose proposals for a common EU defence policy.[1] This was reversed in the 2000s, when the socialist politicians Tarja Halonen and Erkki Tuomioja made Finland's official policy to resist other EU members' plans for defense cooperation. This received some criticism, because many considered that Finland would have been the largest beneficiary of defense cooperation.[1] However, Halonen allowed Finland to join European Union Battlegroups in 2006 and the NATO Response Force in 2008. Relations with most countries except Russia have been good.

Relations with Russia are cordial and common issues include bureaucracy (particularly at the Vaalimaa border crossing), airspace violations, development aid Finland gives to Russia (especially in environmental problems that affect Finland), and Finland's energy dependency on Russian gas and electricity. Behind the scenes, the administration has witnessed a resurrection of Soviet-era tactics. The National Security Agency, SUPO, estimates that the known number of Russian agents from SVR and GRU now exceeds Cold War levels and there are unknown numbers of others.[2] Old methods such as KGB-style connections have been restored. Internet brigades target Finnish Internet forums. To combat Russian agents' connections with Finnish politicians, Finland has limited the time Russian diplomats can stay in the country. Analysts have hinted worry about Finland's ability to maintain sovereignty, for instance, if Russian leadership decides to start a crisis such as the ones experienced in Estonia and elsewhere in the Eastern Europe. Socialists are more willing to formulate policy based on Russia's preferences and maintain that NATO should be just an "option" or strongly rejected, though there is a small pro-NATO socialist opposition. Some socialists and agrarians want to exit the EU.[3] Right-wing politicians are more supportive of integration, with the current Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb one of the most pro-EU politicians in Finnish history and one of the first Finnish politicians to have openly supported NATO membership. After socialist parties lost elections in 2007, the term "non-allied" was dropped from the official policy publication (replicated by Sweden just months later).[1]

The electorate is polarized between internationalists and isolationists. Support for international cooperation, global markets, and European integration is common among the young, right-wing, urban electorate.[4][3] Nevertheless, the old, left-wing, rural electorate contributes to Finland's extraordinary levels of opposition to the EU, NATO, and immigration.[4][3] Studies indicate that few have knowledge about the EU or NATO, and many of the electorate's conceptions date back to the Soviet Era when both were opposed as "too Western" institutions. Critics sometimes call the current political era a "paused era" compared to other post-Soviet countries.[1]


Contents

[edit] History

From the end of the Continuation War with the U.S.S.R. in 1944 until 1991, the policy was to avoid superpower conflicts and to build mutual confidence with the Western powers and 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. The popular support for the strictly self-defensive doctrine remains.

[edit] Relations With the Soviet Union

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.”

[edit] Humiliation

Finland signed the Paris Peace Treaty with the Allies in February 1947, which:

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 other than themselves to rely on in their problematic relations with the Soviet Union.

The Finnish Army, which in defence 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 Allies 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 Allies 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.

[edit] Reassurance

(See also: Finlandization)

For the survival of Finland as an independent sovereign country, firmly convicted in the value of democracy, 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 obliged — with the aid of the Soviet Union, if requested by Finland, not unilaterally by USSR — 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.

Although the Karelian question in Finnish politics remains in the public debate, irredentists have persistently failed to gain support from the majority of the populace, political establishment or political parties.

[edit] 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 Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Western European Union. The military has been prepared to be more compatible with NATO, as co-operation with NATO in peacekeeping is needed, but military alliance does not have popular support.

In the European Union, Finland is a member of the Eurozone, and in addition, the Schengen treaty abolishing passport controls. 60% of foreign trade is to the EU. Other large trade partners are Russia and the United States.

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, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Finland has moved steadily towards 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 defence. Finland’s 1994 decision to buy 64 F-18 Hornet fighter planes from the United States signalled the abandonment of the country’s policy of balanced arms purchases from Communist countries and Western countries.

In 1994, Finland joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace; the country is also 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 defence arm, the Western European Union.

[edit] Relations with various countries

[edit] United States

Main article: Finland-United States relations

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 neighbours, has been of particular interest and importance to the US both during the Cold War and in its aftermath. Before the USSR dissolved in 1991, longstanding US policy was to support Finnish neutrality while maintaining and reinforcing Finland’s historic, cultural, and economic ties with the West. The US has welcomed Finland’s increased participation since 1991 in Western economic and political structures.

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, machinery, electronics and instruments and refined petroleum products[5] — and provides about 7% of its imports — principally computers, semiconductors, aircraft, machinery.

[edit] Relations with Sweden

Finland and Sweden have close relations, resulting from shared history, numerous commonalities in society and politics, and close trade relations. A newly appointed Foreign Minister makes his first state visit to Sweden. Finnish politicians often consider Sweden's reaction to international affairs first as a base for further actions, and thus finally both countries often agree on such issues.

[edit] Relations with Russia

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[edit] International organization participation

See also: Politics of Finland, Finnish diplomatic missions

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named foreignpolicyidea
  2. ^ Helsinki again a centre of international espionage
  3. ^ a b c EVA value and attitude survey in international affairs, 2008 (in Finnish)
  4. ^ a b Eurobarometer June 2007: Finland
  5. ^ Finnish Customs statistics for 2006. http://www.tulli.fi/resources/tekstiversio.jsp?pageoid=24045
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