Finland Is Closer Than Ever to Joining NATO
Since 1945, Finland has sought cordial relations with its vast Russian neighbor. But Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has emboldened champions of Finnish NATO membership — and made things harder for left-wing critics of the military alliance.
Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin meets with German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Helsinki to discuss the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on neighboring European countries. (Bernd von Jutrczenka / picture alliance via Getty Images)
In 2007, a Finnish conservative politician summarized the country’s three main security considerations as “Russia, Russia and Russia.” Many Finns have again brought up these words in recent months. In countries further West, news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related atrocities led to a response along the lines of, “Oh my, those poor people!” For Finns, the reaction has been closer to “Jesus — that could be us!”
Memories of the Winter War of 1939–40 — a key part of the Finnish national mythos — are raw in the minds of even many committed pacifists. The current discussion has gone back to basics: How can Finland avoid becoming the next Ukraine?
There is no question that the invasion of Ukraine represents simultaneously a horrifying breach in European security and another escalation in the long trend of Russian imperialism both near to its borders and further afield. Nothing that could be said, for instance, about events in the Donbas or the far right’s role in Ukraine’s politics provide any justification for this appalling war.
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