"Russia can only be opposed by a united front"

In Finland now an unprecedentedly high level of NATO membership support. European Minister Tyutti Tuoppurainen explains why

Shortly before Sweden and Finland, on May 18, they submitted formal applications for joining NATO, a public opinion poll showed that 76% of Finns support membership in the Alliance. This is an unprecedentedly high level of support, and it grew with a phenomenal speed: by 26 points since February 2022. Only the intervention of Turkey, which blocked the beginning of negotiations, putting forward the requirements to take into account its domestic political interests, prevents the immediate introduction. But the Kremlin, it seems, is not concerned about the expansion of NATO at the expense of these two new members. Why this is happening and what exactly caused such a sharp change in relation to the Finns to the Alliance, Medusa says the Minister of European Affairs Tyutti Tuoppurainen.

- At what stage is Finland’s application for membership in NATO now?

- I want to immediately note that the level of support for joining NATO in Finland is unprecedentedly high from the very beginning of the war. Already in the first weeks, polls showed that most of our people advocated joining NATO, and these figures continued to grow all spring. Then the government instructed to draw up a report of the counterintelligence service that was heard in parliament. 188 deputies of our parliament voted for joining NATO, and only eight against. So the country is one in its support. Our whole nation is ready for this.

Moreover, we were in a special relationship with the Alliance before. We are partners with advanced capabilities, this is a special status that takes into account the interests of Finland and Sweden. We are 100% compatible with NATO requirements, technological and military. We hear that open -door policies are working, that Finland is waiting in the alliance.

Therefore, for us was a surprise when we learned that Türkiye was not ready to join the signing of the protocol on adoption. Therefore, the ratification process has not yet been launched, but we expect to proceed with this stage, as soon as, I hope, all special interests will be taken into account. After signing, Finland will be able to participate in the NATO summit in Madrid as a full member of the alliance.

- And all these changes in Finnish society began with Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24?

- In fact, the problem is deeper, and it began with a letter of the Minister [Foreign Affairs of Russia] Lavrov to the countries of the OSCE, including Finland. In it, he stated that Russia would not allow NATO expansion. This contradicts the elementary principles of the European security structure, which say that each country has the right to independently dispose of issues of its security. I think this was the moment of a fracture in public opinion. People felt that the Kremlin was trying to dictate to us a choice. This is unacceptable, because our people are sure: Finland is a sovereign country and we have the right to our own choice. For us, the so -called NATO option has been operating for a long time, which played the role of the supporting structure of foreign and defense policy. It consists in the fact that we can apply for membership in NATO at any time at will if this is required to conside to conside to conside to consideration.

So all the conditions coincided. Readiness for joining NATO has already matured in Finnish society, and the letter of Minister Lavrov played the role of a catalyst in this process. For us, these requirements are already - that the Kremlin denies the right of Finland to make its own choice, which will lead to the expansion of the alliance - were unacceptable. And the beginning of the war was already a kind of alarm that it was time to act.

- And why did he not sound back in 2014-2015, when, according to numerous evidence, Russia for the first time invaded Ukraine?

“In fact, the first signals were heard long before that - for example, in 2005, when President Putin called the collapse of the USSR" the greatest geopolitical disaster of the past century. " Even then, he hinted that he was going to restore the spheres of influence of former Soviet Russia. It is clear that the “spheres of influence” is a concept from the past, it does not have a place in the 21st century. But since then, Russia has been working consistently to achieve this goal: first, the sphere of influence of Soviet Russia, and then, possibly, tsarist. Then the war in Georgia, the illegal annexation of Crimea, the ongoing war in Ukraine - all this, of course, was supposed to be a signal for Western countries, including Finland that events are moving in an extremely unpleasant direction.

But we continued to show goodwill and thought that thanks to economic exchange we could attract Russia to mutually beneficial cooperation and maintain a place in Western security architecture. And Russia was once a key participant. She is still a member of the OSCE and even in the past, but was in the Council of Europe. But this policy, simply put, was defeated. On February 24, it became the final signal that “changes through trade” did not work. Attempts to bring the Putin regime to a market economy and democracy this way did not lead to anything good. Now we need to restrain Russia, impose strict economic sanctions on it in order to try to change the course of [Russian politics] in this way.

- Not so long ago, the Kremlin himself stated that he was not threatening in connection with the entry of Sweden and Finland to NATO. And the chief of Finnish intelligence Anti Pelttari in an interview with Financial Times said that he was surprised by the practically absent retaliatory measures of Russia for the application of Finland for NATO membership. What can such a relaxed reaction be connected with?

- It seems to me that two things happened. One is quite obvious - Russia is just too busy in Ukraine. The regime is completely concentrated on this, this takes most of his energy. And it is not surprising - this war is not successful for Russia. She is opposed to the unity of Ukrainians who fight as fiercely as Russia clearly never expected.

My second hypothesis - and I will experience great relief, if it is true - it is that Russia could already consider Finland and Sweden as actually the country of the alliance. We were already as close to NATO as possible: in the framework of the partnership program with advanced capabilities, we participated in summites as an alliance partner. Therefore, perhaps, the Kremlin simply confirms the obvious: Finland finally joins NATO, because it already 100% supports the purpose of the alliance and uses its capabilities, with the exception of protection in accordance with Article five.

-Does Finland have some kind of hierarchy of threats from Russia? If not military, since Russian troops are engaged in the war with Ukraine, then which one is in the first place?

- We are preparing for any scenario. Actually, this is how it is already for many decades, since the end of the Second World War. We assume the worst, but take into account the interests of our people. All civilian freedoms are available to us: media freedom, human rights, equality. Cyber ​​attacks, influence campaigns, even the use of migrants in hybrid operations - we are preparing for all this. But I am glad that we are not alone in this. In NATO we are not yet members, but we are in the European Union, which is based on the principles of solidarity and mutual assistance enshrined in Article 42.7 . It says that if one member of the Union was attacked, the rest undertake to come to his aid. We do not want to face Russia alone, it can only be opposed by a united front.

- The cessation of trade relations and, in particular, the air offices with Russia led to the fact that many Russians were cut off from Finland. And your country for some residents of Russia (for example, for Petersburgers) is closer to Moscow. They regularly went there with a variety of purposes - from purchases to participation in regional conferences, and now it has become either very difficult or generally impossible. This was taken into account when introducing a trip restrictions?

- When we protect democracy, human rights and the rule of law, we are not only fighting for European values ​​- they also belong to the Russians in the same way. Personally, with all my heart, I wish the Russian people only the best. I believe that Russians also deserve to be free so that they are treated with dignity, so that their country flourishes. But it depends solely on the regime and its actions. Only Russians can achieve changes that will return them to normal. But the trust between our countries has been lost. It's a pity, but it is. I don’t know if it has been lost for many years.

However, history shows that if a new iron curtain drops over Europe, it will not always last. Now this is a necessity. Russia began this war, only Vladimir Putin and his regime are to blame for this, and it is unfortunate that ordinary Russians also suffer from this. But they must make their own choice, not to dictate to us in which direction Russia should move. For our part, we want to say that it is wrong to invade a neighboring country, fill in the air with conspiracy theories and false narratives. We will do everything that is necessary in order to restrain these processes, including the introduction of new sanctions, because we have the right to protect our sovereignty, as well as sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Talked by Alexei Kovalev