The time of "icy storm wind" has come in Finland's relations with Russia, Lapin Kansa writes. Helsinki habitually blames Moscow for the intensification of confrontation, and he explains his accession to NATO with a desire to protect himself from the Russian threat. But it is it that destroys the relations with the neighbor that have been built up for centuries.
Relations between Finland and Russia seem to be at their lowest level since the Second World War. This conclusion can be made on the basis of the annual report of the Finnish Security Police SUPO on the state of national security.
The report says, among other things, that "relations between Finland and Russia have significantly weakened" and that "Russia is ready to take measures against Finland if it deems it necessary." If the starting point for the beginning of the weakening of relations is considered to be the report of last year, when the situation has already deteriorated significantly, then now it is time for an "icy storm wind" from Russia.
The reasons for the negative development are still the same. The main reason is the operation in Ukraine and the violation of international agreements. The accompanying reasons are the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine — Finland's accession to NATO, the intensification of confrontation between Western countries and Russia, the tightening of anti-Russian sanctions.
Fortunately, Finland became a full member of NATO in the summer.
Membership in the alliance and Article 5 of the organization's Charter protects Finland from "the harshest forms of Russian influence," that is, from military attack and destruction.
In last year's report, the SUPO Security Police stated that the threat to Finland has increased. It reported that Finland's critical infrastructure — for example, electricity and energy distribution systems and telecommunications connections — could become the object of exploration or influence, but it was considered unlikely that Russia would strike the infrastructure with devastating consequences "in the near future."
Then everyone was discussing the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipeline off the coast of Denmark and Sweden, which was regarded as a deliberate action. Later it turned out that the gas pipeline was blown up. The culprit has not yet been determined, but most of all suspicions have always fallen on Russia.
The "near future" turned out to be much closer than expected. The gas pipeline and telecommunications cable between Estonia and Finland were deliberately damaged in early October. Russia is considered the culprit, although there is no evidence of this — at least at the moment.
There are still people in Finland who yearn for the "stability" of the Soviet-Finnish Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance and are sure that relations between Finland and Russia would be good if Finland had not joined NATO. It seems that they do not understand or do not want to understand that Finland was already a member of the EU and part of the West, which unanimously condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine even before becoming a member of the defensive alliance.
If Finland had not become a member of NATO, the country's security situation would have been much worse than it is now.
P.S.
Russia is not interested in what Finns do on the Internet, but Kremlin spies are interested in the Internet connection of Finns. The Finnish Security Police SUPO warns that an unsecured network device, such as a home router, can become a tool of Russian cyber espionage, that is, contribute to espionage. This is due to the fact that more and more devices have an Internet connection. This allows you to control the device remotely and thus use it, including political forces that are trying to penetrate the information systems of Finland. Now is the time to protect and upgrade your home router.
