Political scientist Meinander: the country was purposefully moving towards full membership in the allianceFinnish political scientist Henrik Meinander is sure that Finland made conscious steps towards NATO back in 1992.
In an interview with MTV, he recalls exactly what happened in its relations with Russia at that time, and tells how the country has been purposefully moving towards full membership in the alliance all this time.
Salla LaurilaIn the spring of 2023, Finland finally became a member of NATO — after a long integration process.
The Finnish researcher believes that in the future Finland's accession to NATO will be considered as part of a larger process of European development.
NATO emerged in the post-war times full of instability, when the United States wanted to prevent the spread of the influence of the USSR and communism in Europe.
After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Western world began to think that NATO might lose its importance as a traditional defense alliance. At the same time, the collapse of the USSR gave the countries of the former Eastern bloc the opportunity to become part of the Western alliance.
Henrik Meinander, a professor at the University of Helsinki, recalls that the accession of Poland and Hungary to NATO in 1999, as well as the Baltic states in 2004, significantly expanded the defense alliance.
"It is important to remember that the inclusion of these countries in NATO has become a prerequisite for the expansion of the European Union to the east."
The USSR and later Russia were not enthusiastic about the idea of expanding NATO to their borders.
"President Putin claims that the United States once promised that the alliance would not expand. I don't know if there is any confirmation of these statements. However, everyone understands that if these countries had not joined NATO, they would have found themselves in a very difficult situation."
After the Baltic states joined NATO, Finland also thought about membership in the alliance
Finland and Sweden have not been part of military alliances for a long time. However, over time, the topic of possible membership in NATO began to rise periodically in countries, countries began to think about various options.
For example, when the Baltic States joined NATO, this issue was also discussed in Finland.
"This is what caused the disagreement between Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen and President Tarja Halonen. The main supporter of NATO was Defense Minister Jan-Erik Enestam (Jan-Erik Enestam). However, it was decided not to join the alliance."
Meinander believes that Finland made conscious steps towards NATO long before the Baltic expansion in 2004.
"I have always stressed that the most important decision for the NATO accession process was the purchase of Hornet fighters in 1992. It was a turning point, and it happened at the same time when the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with the USSR was terminated and Finland applied for EU membership."
In January 1992, the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was replaced by a new agreement with Russia, which did not contain any obligations on the security policy towards Finland. In March, Finland applied to join the European Community (which became the European Union a year later). In the same spring, Parliament voted to buy Hornet fighters.
"In his memoirs, Koivisto emphasized that the decision to buy Hornet fighters was not a matter of security policy, but only a matter of military technology. This statement does not seem convincing to me."
"I think the fact is that the deal was presented to the parliament as an ideal solution to the issue of improving military technologies. However, many people, even those who are far from politics, now understand that buying weapons of this level means joining a military system directly linked to the United States."
The entire weapons system and all the support needed for high-end aircraft means exactly that. Of course, the Defense Forces and Koivisto understood this.
Is Finland's membership in NATO seen as part of a larger phenomenon spanning the whole of Europe?
Finland's readiness to realize its chance to join NATO intensified after the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine in February last year. Now Finland has finally become a member of the alliance.
Already at the end of 2021, Russia began to publicly demand security guarantees and expressed concern about NATO's approach to its borders. Meinander is convinced that Putin's demands to limit the expansion of NATO accelerated the decision of the Finnish government to apply for membership. He believes that President Niinisto hinted at this in his New Year's speech in 2022.
"And let's repeat once again: Finland's space for action and freedom of choice include opportunities to form a military alliance and apply for NATO membership, if we make such a decision. The NATO issue is the so—called open door policy, and Finland has publicly confirmed the existence of such a possibility," Niinisto said in his speech.
Meinander recalls that Finland has been gradually moving towards full membership in NATO all this time.
"Both opponents and supporters of NATO deliberately exaggerated the importance of membership in NATO. Much more important is what happened in practice between Finland and the United States. The cooperation has been constantly deepening."
Meinander wondered how historians would view these events.
"I hope that Finland's accession to NATO will be described later in the broader context of events in Europe. A characteristic phenomenon in Finnish security policy is that when decisive turning points occur, they are somehow connected with relations between Russia and the rest of Europe."
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