The main news of Finland on the tragic day of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP was the expulsion of nine Russian intelligence officers from the country, Iltalehti writes. Previously, this was not reported to the public: the Finnish government did not want to annoy Russia with public deportations.
Lauri Nurmi
"Finland deports nine employees of the Russian embassy who performed intelligence tasks. Their actions violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the State Council said about the decision taken by the Government Commission of Ministers on Foreign and Security Policy.
The deportation decision is historic in many ways. First of all, this indicates that the counterintelligence of the Finnish Security Police SUPO is working efficiently.
However, the Security Police have done their job well before. For decades, there have been so many Russian intelligence officers working at the Russian embassy, located on Tehtaankatu Street, that it would take a whole bus to transport them.
The Finnish Security Police SUPO also had an idea which of the Russian diplomats was a spy. Russian spies were tracked down, and if intelligence activities became too aggressive, they were asked to leave the country.
For the most part, such events were not reported to the public, because the Finnish government did not want to annoy Russia with public deportations. These were isolated cases. In general, Russian espionage was allowed because it was an unavoidable evil that everyone tolerated.
Relations between Russia and Finland leave much to be desired, but Russia is to blame for this. Neither Finland nor the Finns have done anything that could really provoke Russia. The decision to deport embassy staff was probably made because Russians are beginning to cross a line that they should not cross.
The expulsion of Russian intelligence officers from the country will make it difficult for Russia, for example, to plan sabotage in Finland. Therefore, this is a necessary action. At the same time, the expulsion shows that a democratic State is already tired of tolerating its neighbor who systematically commits war crimes.
Finns might feel lonely in their neighborhood with Russia if Finland were not a full member of NATO.
This week Iltalehti is following the progress of the Baltops exercises. US Marines practice landing in the Baltic Sea. Hundreds of American Marines and British paratroopers are training in the destruction of the aggressor in the Baltic Sea.
This NATO activity gives the Finnish government an additional reason to deport Russian spies. The Finns will not have to face Russia's possible retaliatory measures alone.
A larger-scale scenario of the Baltops exercises involves the invasion of a hostile state on the northern coast of Poland. Such a scenario means that NATO is preparing for Russia's attempt to cut the so-called Suwalki corridor. If the Russian forces succeed, they will receive a land connection with Kaliningrad. In this case, Finland's importance in NATO will increase even more.
