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| Europe |
| Finland, Russia, and NATO |
| 2008-08-26 |
| Diplomat Vladimir Kozin, who worked at the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, caused something of a political storm in Finland last autumn. Kozin had first examined Finnish security policy at a closed seminar at the National Defence University. After the seminar he said in a television interview that Russia would see Finland's possible membership in NATO as a direct military threat. Officially, Russia distanced itself from Kozin's comments, and he soon returned to Moscow. Reactions to Kozin's speech were contradictory in Finland. They were seen mainly as private thoughts, or as an experiment of some kind to see how Finns would react. Ultimately the controversy died down rather quickly. Russia's actions in Georgia, and its tougher foreign policy nevertheless put Kozin's statements into a new light. Russia is taking an extremely negative view of NATO enlargement to its nearby areas, which also include Finland. Did Kozin get his instructions directly from the Kremlin anyway? One possible indication that this might have been the case is that the aforementioned seminar was originally to have had a high-ranking representative of the Russian Defence Forces as its speaker. The original speaker cancelled at the last moment, and when the Russian Embassy was asked for a replacement, Kozin was sent instead. Today's Kremlin leaders want to maintain good relations with Finland. They also want Finland not to make decisions that are not in Russia's interests. Preferably the same kinds of decisions that Finland made when the Finnish-Soviet Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation , and Mutual Assistance was in force. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #3 I bet they're going to kick this back to committee for restudy. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-08-26 19:55 |
| #2 It's not paranoia when you're going down the tubes. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-08-26 14:33 |
| #1 It there ANYTHING that Ivan doesn't see as bloody "threatening." Paranoid bastards indeed. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-08-26 13:43 |