FINLANDIZATION

March 22, 2022

It will soon be a month since Russia invaded Ukraine, and it remains unclear when and how the war might end. Among the scenarios that have been seen as potentially workable is the “Finlandization” of Ukraine.

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‘Finlandization’ refers to the policy of strict neutrality between Moscow and the West that Finland followed during the decades of the Cold War.
The principle of neutrality was rooted in the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance (or YYA Treaty) that Finland signed with the USSR in April 1948.
The 1948 treaty formed the basis of Helsinki-Moscow relations until 1992, when Finland signed a new agreement with post-Soviet Russia. It lay at the heart of Finland’s foreign policy doctrine especially when Juho Kusti Paasikivi (1946-56) and Urho Kekkonen (1956-82) were President, and is known in international relations studies as the “Paasikivi-Kekkonen line”.
From the perspective of Finland — whose capital Helsinki is situated just across the Gulf of Finland from St Petersburg (Leningrad) — the treaty protected it from being attacked or incorporated into the USSR like the Baltic and eastern European states.
It allowed the country to pursue the path of democracy and capitalism while staying out of the conflict between the great powers.

Source : Indian Express