The splendid isolation of Finland falters, but the road to take is still uncertain.
The only non-Scandinavian nation of the "Nordic bloc", it boasted of its ethnic, cultural and linguistic originality. This also had its weight in geopolitics. In military history, Finland has often placed itself sideways with respect to politically correct historiography: between the '39 and the 44, in the Winter War before and then in the Continuation War, the Finns fought the Red Army, distinguishing themselves in absolute sense as soldiers and as patriots.
This role has had continuity with the neutrality of the Second post-war period, which has seen Helsinki remain outside NATO. While identifying in the USSR and the Russians in particular the enemy par excellence, the road to isolation has been preferred to every binding military cartel. Like other Nordic countries, Finland has developed its remarkable defense capabilities based on the "reserve" model: a permanent and slender permanent block on one side, a whole nation of reservists ready to mobilize on the other. Needless to say, the model works where the attachment to the land and the sense of identity are deeply rooted. Needless to say, in peacetime, little is done.
However, the strategic scenarios change. Here in the summer of the 2015 900.000 reservists receive the mail vade mecum of the Ministry of Defense with the indications of mobilization in case of war. The alarm starts from the east, as has been the case for Finland for centuries. The Finnish services have been monitoring Moscow's offensive capacity on the Karelian front for years, mindful of the fact that after Ukraine, Finland is the European country with the longest Russian border (1300 km).
It was the parallelism with Kiev that triggered the itching in the General Staff of Finnish Army? What is cooking?
Reluctant to enter the EU (1995) but among the first to join the euro (1999), Finland has quickly accelerated its transformation from a "different" nation to a member of a community. If in the years 60 participated in the works of Non-aligned countries, in recent times there has been strong talk of joining NATO. The acquisition campaign that the Alliance has implemented in the last twenty years in Helsinki has been taken seriously, especially in light of the change of gear that the Russian Armed Forces have made since the 2007.
The abolition of the Divisions (except in the parades) and the reduction of the chain of command (now divided into three bodies: District, Army, Brigade) showed above all in the crisis in Ukraine a speed of considerable movement of the Moscow troops, even of "heavy" departments. The Kremlin's modernization, strengthening and new entrepreneurship in foreign policy did the rest: in Finland, even though the Bolsheviks are buried by history, the "Russian syndrome" is still there.
This is what is claimed by Colonel Vallinmaa, former head of the supo, the Helsinki Services, which in an interview with the Hufvudstadsbladet takes into consideration the often controversial relations between the two countries.
Already in the 2012 Moscow was fiercely opposed to Finland's hypothesis of entry into the Atlantic Pact. If it were still discussed today, the Kremlin would take action. Putin in the 2015 in this sense has put his hands ahead, declaring NATO's continued strengthening towards the east as a "real threat". Also on the occasion of the invitation made by Stoltenberg to Montenegro (see article), the words in this regard were very decisive.
What will Finland do then?
For now the Commands East (Mikkeli) and North (Oulu) remain the most robust of the four territorial army (in Mikkeli there is also the Southern Command). The Navy intensifies patrolling after the accident with the Russian submarine of April 2015 in the Helsinki Bay. There Suomen Ilmavoimat (aeronautics) continues to intercept Russian jets at the borders of its airspace.
But politics meanwhile plays in the shadows. Helsinki, like other countries already members of the Alliance, is very keen on good neighborly relations with Moscow. In some respects it is forced on us. As the Hungarian "ethnic cousins" teach, you can safely keep your foot on two stirrups. Also because Finland and the liberalist West have little in common. Entry into NATO, quarrels with Russia aside, would be a further flattening of a culture that smells of everything but the Atlantic.
(Photo: Maavoimat)
