The President of Finland spoke at a security conference in Munich on Saturday Sauli Niinistö drew similarities between the events in Ukraine and the Soviet Union’s efforts to destabilize Finnish society in the run-up to the Winter War.
"Stalin thought he was disintegrating the nation, and it is easy to attack Finland. The exact opposite happened. People came together and we saw the same thing in Ukraine… I feel like we have the same feeling in the West – we are being challenged, but we are together."
“No special relationship”
Niinistö has recently paid international attention to what international news channels call his special view of Russia Vladimir Putin.
However, the President of Finland denied his special relationship with the Russian leader.
"I must admit that I do not feel that I personally or in Finland have any special relationship with Russia or its leaders."
He stated that Finland has a long history alongside Russia and "that history is certainly not very beautiful."
The French president was said to have recently been nominated "Finnishization" as a possible solution for Ukraine. Finland was basically a buffer state between the Soviet Union and the West during the Cold War.
Niinistö escaped comments on the subject "Finnishness," said that it has not existed for 40 years, but instead chose a ranking that shows that Finland is one of the happiest and least corrupt countries in the world.
"This model is very open and free to use," he told the audience.
However, he admitted that nothing has been more important to Finns than the opportunity to live in peace.
"This situation [in Ukraine] it’s weird" Niinistö asked the public if anyone had imagined half a year ago that Russia would keep everyone on their toes in early 2022.
"We now see Russia taking two steps and then taking one back." he said.
Niinistö emphasized that the West, the EU, the United States and Britain form a united front.
"While Russia thinks it can punch holes in the defense, nothing has succeeded so far." he said, adding that any new sanctions against Russia would make a "a huge gap in the Russian economy."
Now, according to Niinistö, the question was how to react to the behavior that is apparently coming from another area: "How do you react to behavior from a different planet?"
Before speaking, Niinistö tweeted that he had met the new German Chancellor, Olaf Schiholzin other words "NATO’s door is open, there is no doubt about it."
The episode of this week’s All Points North podcast asks why "Finnishization" is such a sensitive topic in Finland.
Source: The Nordic Page