A New Era of Finnish Foreign Policy Begins

Summary:

At 1,340 kilometres, Finland has by far the European Union's longest border with Russia. Despite their tumultuous history, the two countries have maintained a peaceful and co-operative relationship for decades.

However, Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine has caused a significant change to Finnish-Russian relations, the clearest consequence being Finland’s decision to apply for NATO membership. From the Finnish point of view, Russia’s actions in Ukraine have made Finland’s security environment much more unstable and destroyed Moscow’s credibility as a partner. To cope with the new reality, Finland must re-invent itself as a foreign policy actor.

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