A large and powerful Alliance needs the head of a small Finland to maintain a dialogue with Vladimir Putin. But can this need be called unconditionally mutual and permanent? This is how the Finnish newspaper reacted to the message about the upcoming visit of President Niinisto to Russia. It was announced after the visit of the NATO Secretary General to Helsinki.
Finland has secured the status of a country that is not part of military alliances, as well as the status of a NATO partner, and the visit of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Finland does not fundamentally change the current situation.
However, new developments may still be hidden under the diplomatic shell.
It is not so much the statements made during the visit that are important, but what will happen in the future.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on October 29. The Office of the President announced this on October 26 immediately after the press conference of Stoltenberg and Niinisto.
The message is clear, there are no accidents here. Even before the visit of the NATO Secretary General, it was absolutely clear that relations between NATO and Russia are in a very bad state. According to Jens Stoltenberg, relations were worse only during the Cold War.
So far, this crisis exists only "at the diplomatic level." Russia has closed its permanent mission to NATO as a response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats. However, the dialogue in any form should be resumed as soon as possible.
A large and powerful NATO needs the president of a small Finland to maintain excellent relations with President Vladimir Putin. On October 25, Jens Stoltenerg stated this very bluntly.
By the summer summit in Madrid, NATO wants to update the concept of the strategy. There is less and less time for confrontation with Russia. The relationship needs to be restored as soon as possible.
The importance and military power of China is constantly growing along with the country's success in the economy, which requires constant attention from NATO.
According to Jens Stoltenberg, the partnership between Finland and NATO will become even more important in the new concept. The doors of NATO are constantly open, but the decision still remains with Finland. NATO does sometimes need Finland, but can this need be called unconditionally mutual and permanent?
Editorial article
