The Finnish Prime Minister called fake statements about the Finns' desire to "return" KareliaThe Karelian Union of Finland has started receiving calls to resume demands to "return" Karelia, Ilta-Sanomat writes.
This issue was discussed by the leaders of the Finnish parties during the election debates. A separate statement was made by Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
Johannes KotkavirtaRecently, the chairmen of the Finnish parties discussed during the pre-election debates how to respond to attempts of influence from Russia.
(Parliamentary elections in Finland will be held on April 3, 2023, approx. transl.)The chairmen of the six largest parties in Finland also spoke on security policy issues.
In addition, the problem of informational influence was discussed, the victim of which, according to the Karelian Union, were Finns.
Representatives of the Karelian Union receive messages from unknown people with an appeal to resume demands to return the lost Karelian territories.
Recently, there have been regular articles in Russian propaganda claiming that Finland is seeking to join NATO in order to be able to return the territories transferred to the USSR.
According to the organizer of the debate Timo Haapala, many believe it is possible that Russia is now promoting the opinion that Finland has a thirst to regain lost territories.
"Does the government or the President of the republic need to repeat that Finland has no territorial claims — or will we play along with Russia in this way," Haapala asked the party leaders.
According to Annika Saarikko, chairman of the Finnish Center party, the coronavirus crisis and the war contributed to the rapid spread of lies on social networks.
"Now there are not always enough statements from our side that this is not true," Saarikko said. — Finland does not attack anyone. Finland stands for peace and for the right of an independent State to be independent. That is why Finland supports Ukraine."
Prime Minister Sanna Marin (Social Democratic Party) said that telling the truth is the best way to respond to the spread of misinformation and lies. Marin firmly and unequivocally rejected the allegations about the Finns' desire to return Karelia.
The chairman of the opposition party "National Coalition" Petteri Orpo (Petteri Orpo) recalled the old wisdom: if someone starts provoking, you should not give in. On the other hand, Maria Ohisalo ("Green Union") reminded us that military operations are also being conducted in social networks.
"Russia has long chosen information warfare as one of its methods, when the war is waged without weapons and in the minds of people. The best way to respond to this war is to educate our citizens even more."
At the debate, the chairmen were also asked to reflect on what they had learned about Vladimir Putin's Russia during the year of hostilities.
"The border has turned into a moat. Russia cannot be trusted. Russia is unpredictable," says Saarikko (the Finnish Center party).
Petteri Orpo (National Coalition Party) said that these events reminded him of the lessons of previous generations, according to which one should always be on guard and take care of one's own safety.
"Putin has shown us by his actions that he is completely unpredictable, brutal, cruel, ruthless and ready to do anything to satisfy his own ambitions."
For Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the most important lesson of the war was the realization that the Europeans were quite naive and very wrong.
"In my opinion, the recognition of this fact is already good, because Russia is not the only authoritarian country in this world that thinks differently from us. We must learn to be stronger and more independent, as well as be prepared for various situations."
Marin hopes that regardless of the election results, Finland will continue to advocate making Europe stronger in the face of these forces.
Riikka Purra ("True Finns") shares Marin's views. According to her, it is necessary to understand that there are countries in the world that do not change their actions, even in the presence of international relations.
"I began to look at many things more realistically and realized once again that in geopolitical terms we have such a neighbor. He has determined and will determine everything that we will do."
