![]() The generally accepted interpretation is that Finland was caught in the relentless embrace of the proverbial Russian bear and functioned as a quasi-sovereign nation, unable to conduct its foreign or even domestic policies independently of Moscow’s approval. 5Īs a Cold War concept, Finlandization or the ›Finnish model‹ carries a sense of ignominy, submission and subservience. Ironically, of course, with the ongoing foreign policy reorientation of Finland and Sweden, Putin is highly likely to end up facing a NATO-ized Finland instead, as Biden also observed. Echoing Franz Josef Strauss, first in May 2022 and then again in February 2023, he accused Putin of trying to Finlandize NATO. 4 President Joe Biden has been more direct in his wording. Still, it stubbornly persists – cropping up most recently, if indirectly, at the Davos World Economic Forum of 2022 when Kissinger called for a return to the status quo ante bellum in Ukraine. It is evident that the notion of Finlandization keeps producing negative sentiments, especially in Ukraine and Finland. 3 During the run-up to the current war, the Finnish model emerged once again, only to be quickly shot down by Ukrainians and Finns alike. Ukraine was not Finland, ran the counter-argument Russian interest in the ›Ukrainian question‹ and the two countries’ historically conditioned Slavic ties rendered the Finnish model inapplicable at best and anachronistic at worst. 2 At the time, the words of these elder Cold War statesmen elicited mainly criticism. 1 Henry Kissinger followed on Brzezinski’s heels, arguing that Ukraine should seek a posture similar to that of Finland: fiercely independent and firmly tied to the West, while avoiding ›institutional hostility toward Russia‹. In February 2014, in the context of Russia’s annexation of the Crimea, Zbigniew Brzezinski called for a ›Finland option‹ to stabilize the Russo-Ukrainian situation. Yet, ever since Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimea, ›Finlandization‹ of Ukraine has been discussed as a potential solution. ![]() In particular, the prospect of a ›Finlandized‹ Ukraine has met with near universal rejection. How will Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine end? What kinds of political scenarios could stop the suffering and bring stability to the region? Of all the different future scenarios none is particularly encouraging. ![]() Potential Lessons for Present-day Ukraine.A Short History of Finnish-Soviet Relations. ![]()
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