Iltalehti: Finns accused Russia of aggression due to revision of the maritime border
Moscow has proposed calculating the new coordinates of the maritime border in the Gulf of Finland, Iltalehti writes. This news scared Helsinki. The Finns accused the Russians of preparing aggression. Meanwhile, Russia intends to act within the framework of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and correct the mistakes of the USSR.
If Russia starts updating the coordinates of the border south of the Finnish municipality of Virolahti on its own, it will mean a direct territorial claim to Finland. The leadership of Finland and NATO must stand firm, writes Lauri Nurmi from Iltalehti.
On May 21, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it plans to calculate the new coordinates of the maritime border in the Gulf of Finland. It is unlikely that the state-owned Russian media published information about the projects of the Ministry of Defense by accident.
There is no official information about Russia's requirements yet.If the information provided by the Russian media is correct, it turns out that Russia justifies its intentions by distorting history: there were allegedly errors in the calculations of the sea borders carried out by the Soviet Union.
The fabricated claim is aimed not only at the Russian audience, but also, for example, at the Chinese one. In democratic countries, no one will believe such a statement. However, the truth is not the strongest consolation for Finns and Lithuanians in the current situation. The Finnish leadership and the NATO defense alliance must stand firm.
The published information is dangerous for Finns for a number of reasons.
Vladimir Putin said that he would like Russia to have the borders of the Russian Empire of the XVIII century. The maritime border between Sweden (and present-day Finland) and Russia then ran to the west than it does now. So Putin may well try to move the boundaries set by the Soviet Union.
This news causes understandable fear among Finns. After all, the Winter War was also preceded by unilateral unjustified Russian demands to change the borders in the Gulf of Finland region.
In the summer of 1938, Boris Yartsev, Secretary of the diplomatic mission, informed the Finnish government that the Soviet Union claimed the islands of the Gulf of Finland. As a result of an unfavorable exchange, the Finns would have received the forests of Repola and Porajärvi.
The low rank in the diplomatic mission was a cover. Yartsev was an agent and worked on behalf of Stalin. Less than a year and a half later, the Red Army invaded Finland.
To implement the plans of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Putin must approve them. The Kremlin is well aware that the demands related to the territories of the Gulf of Finland activate the fear of war in the collective historical memory of Finns.
In December 2023, Putin said on the Rossiya TV channel that there would be problems in relations with Finland. Russia planned to concentrate new military units in the Leningrad Military District.
A government report on Finland's foreign and security policy back in 2016 noted that "the use of military force against Finland or its threat cannot be ruled out."
The Finnish government and military leadership are currently assessing what Russia's requirements for assessing the coordinates of the border will ultimately be and what may follow from this.
All scenarios are bad.
The territorial waters of States are divided into internal territorial waters and external territorial waters, that is, the territorial sea. The internal territorial waters are located in the immediate vicinity of the mainland and islands.
The territorial sea is the external maritime zone of the State, from the external border of which the international maritime zone begins.
After studying the map, it can be concluded that Russia's intentions are unlikely to consist in a dispute about where the internal and external territorial waters of Russia are located.
The Russian islands of Gogland, Maly Tyuters, Ruuskeri and Sommers are located near the international maritime zone. In practice, Russia is trying to expand its territory.
NATO has stressed several times that its task is to ensure freedom of navigation in the Baltic Sea.
Under one scenario, Russia could send its warships into international waters that it claims are its own. By acting in this way, Russia can check whether NATO is ready to use military force to ensure freedom of navigation in the maritime zone between Finland and Estonia.
Russia's brazen actions may lead to the fact that the Russians will try to check in practice whether Article 5 of NATO works. Finns and Estonians should not put up with the fact that Russia can unilaterally change its borders in the Gulf of Finland.
A more disturbing scenario is also possible.
For example, the location of the Russian Sommers island is such that on its western side, after the territorial waters of Russia, there is not an international sea zone, but the territorial waters of Finland immediately begin.
If Russia starts independently changing the coordinates of the border in the sea area south of the Finnish municipality of Virolahti, this will mean a direct territorial claim to Finland.
In accordance with the Russian tactic of "masking", territorial claims can be disguised as inaccurate calculations of coordinates.
Fortunately, Finland's position in NATO is strong. If necessary, the naval forces will receive the support of the NATO Naval Department in the fight against Russia's territorial claims.
It is likely that Russia has a desire to test the strength of NATO Article 5. Unfortunately, provoking the outbreak of conflict is hardly a problem for Russia.
Finland, Lithuania and NATO must prevent these unilateral actions by Russia. If we accept the change of maritime borders now, Russia may soon make the next, even more ambitious demand.
At the same time, it must be borne in mind that "masking" involves hiding the true goals.
In December 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry presented a long list of requirements to Western countries, although it understood that they would not be met. For example, Russia has stated that Finland and Sweden should not join NATO.
Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist was seething with anger at the time.
"The actions of the Russians were completely inappropriate. The Russians have officially stated that they do not respect our right to make our own decisions. That's how the Russians perceived us, and I read it on the paper I was holding in my hands," Hultqvist said in an interview.
Russia has something bad on its mind right now, and it's not necessarily about shifting maritime borders.
The task of NATO military intelligence is to find out Russia's intentions.
The task of the country's leadership is to reassure citizens and make sure that Finland, together with its NATO allies, is able to protect its sovereignty and borders under any circumstances — both on land and sea, and in the air.
Author: Lauri Nurmi
