FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Finland's
basic foreign policy goal from the end of the Continuation War
with the U.S.S.R. in 1944 until 1991 was to avoid great-power
conflicts and to build mutual confidence with the Soviet Union.
Although the country was culturally, socially, and politically
Western, Finns realized they must live in peace with the U.S.S.R.
and take no action that might be interpreted as a security threat.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 opened up dramatic
new possibilities for Finland and has resulted in the Finns actively
seeking greater participation in Western political and economic
structures. Finland joined the European Union in 1995.
Relations
With the Soviet Union and With Russia
The principal architect of the post-1944 foreign policy of neutrality
was J.K. Paasikivi, who was President from 1946 to 1956. Urho
Kekkonen, President from 1956 until 1981, further developed this
policy, stressing that Finland should be an active rather than
a passive neutral. This policy is now popularly known as the "Paasikivi-Kekkonen
Line."
Finland
and the U.S.S.R. signed a peace treaty at Paris in February 1947
limiting the size of Finland's defense forces and providing for
the cession to the Soviet Union of the Petsamo area on the Arctic
coast, the Karelian Isthmus in southeastern Finland, and other
territory along the former eastern border. Another provision,
terminated in 1956, leased the Porkkala area near Helsinki to
the U.S.S.R. for use as a naval base and gave free access to this
area across Finnish territory.
The 1947
treaty also called for Finland to pay to the Soviet Union reparations
of 300 million gold dollars (amounting to an estimated $570 million
in 1952, the year the payments ended). Although an ally of the
Soviet Union in World War II, the United States was not a signatory
to this treaty because it had not been at war with Finland.
In April
1948, Finland signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation,
and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union. Under this mutual
assistance pact, Finland was obligated--with the aid of the Soviet
Union, if necessary--to resist armed attacks by Germany or its
allies against Finland or against the U.S.S.R. through Finland.
At the same time, the agreement recognized Finland's desire to
remain outside great-power conflicts. This agreement was renewed
for 20 years in 1955, in 1970, and again in 1983 to the year 2003,
although the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union led to
the agreement's abrogation.
The Finns
responded cautiously in 1990-91 to the decline of Soviet power
and the U.S.S.R.'s subsequent dissolution. They unilaterally abrogated
restrictions imposed by the 1947 and 1948 treaties, joined in
voicing Nordic concern over the coup against Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev, and gave increasing unofficial encouragement to Baltic
independence.
At the
same time, by replacing the Soviet-Finnish mutual assistance pact
with treaties on general cooperation and trade, Finns put themselves
on an equal footing while retaining a friendly bilateral relationship.
Finland now is boosting cross-border commercial ties and touting
its potential as a commercial gateway to Russia. It has reassured
Russia that it will not raise claims for Finnish territory seized
by the U.S.S.R. and continues to reaffirm the importance of good
bilateral relations.
Multilateral
Relations
Finnish foreign policy emphasizes its participation in multilateral organizations. Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the EU in 1995. As noted, the country also is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Partnership for Peace as well as a member in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. As a NATO partner, Finland had 100 troops in Afghanistan as of September 2007.
Finland
is well represented in the UN civil service in proportion to its
population and belongs to several of its specialized and related
agencies. Finnish troops have participated in UN peacekeeping
activities since 1956, and the Finns continue to be one of the
largest per capita contributors of peacekeepers in the world.
Finland is an active participant in the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in early 1995 assumed the
co-chairmanship of the OSCE's Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
Cooperation
with the other Scandinavian countries also is important to Finland,
and it has been a member of the Nordic Council since 1955. Under
the council's auspices, the Nordic countries have created a common
labor market and have abolished immigration controls among themselves.
The council also serves to coordinate social and cultural policies
of the participating countries and has promoted increased cooperation
in many fields.
In addition
to the organizations already mentioned, Finland became a member
of the following organizations: Bank for International Settlements,
1930; International Monetary Fund, 1948; International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, 1948; General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT), 1950; International Finance Corporation, 1956;
International Development Association, 1960; European Free Trade
Association, 1961; Asian Development Bank, 1966; Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1969; Inter-American
Development Bank, 1977; African Development Bank, 1982; Multilateral
Investment Guarantee Agency, 1988; the Council of Europe, 1989;
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Central and
Eastern Europe, 1991; World Trade Organization, 1995; and INTELSAT,
1999. Finland entered Stage Three of EMU (the European Monetary
Union) in 1999. All the Nordic countries, including Finland, joined
the Schengen area in March 2001.
U.S.-FINLAND
RELATIONS
Relations between the United States and Finland are warm. Some
200,000 U.S. citizens visit Finland annually, and about 5,000
U.S. citizens are resident there. The United States has an educational
exchange program in Finland which is comparatively large for a
west European country of Finland's size. It is financed in part
from a trust fund established in 1976 from Finland's final repayment
of a U.S. loan made in the aftermath of World War I.
Finland
is bordered on the east by Russia and, as one of the former Soviet
Union's neighbors, has been of particular interest and importance
to the United States both during the Cold War and in its aftermath.
Before the U.S.S.R. dissolved in 1991, longstanding U.S. policy
was to support Finnish neutrality while maintaining and reinforcing
Finland's historic, cultural, and economic ties with the West.
The United States has welcomed Finland's increased participation
since 1991 in Western economic and political structures.
Following
the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Finland has moved steadily
toward integration into Western institutions and abandoned its
formal policy of neutrality, which has been recast as a policy
of military nonalliance coupled with the maintenance of a credible,
independent defense. Finland's 1994 decision to buy 64 F-18 fighter
planes from the United States signaled the abandonment of the
country's policy of balanced arms purchases from East and West.
The final aircraft rolled off the assembly line in August 2000.
In 1994,
Finland joined NATO's Partnership for Peace; the country also
is an observer in the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. Finland
became a full member of the EU in January 1995, at the same time
acquiring observer status in the Western European Union.
Finland
generally welcomes foreign investment. Areas of particular interest
for U.S. investors are specialized high-tech companies and investments
that take advantage of Finland's position as a gateway to Russia
and the Baltic countries.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--Marilyn Ware
Deputy Chief of Mission--Amy Hyatt
Public Affairs Counselor--Nicole Conn
Political Section Chief--Greg Thome
Labor Attache (Pol)--Lisa Conesa
Economic Section Chief--Jane Messenger
Management Officer--Ted Plosser
The U.S. Embassy in Finland is located at Itainen Puistotie 14, Helsinki 00140; tel: 358-9-616-250; fax: 358-9-174-681.
