With the longest border with Russia at 830 miles, Finland’s history during the Cold War was defined by being close to NATO, cooperating with the alliance, but retaining enough neutrality to avoid being an immediate target for the Soviet Union.
That neutrality saw Finland through the Cold War, and became a time-honored position of ruling parties. At times NATO became a political issue, as in 2006 election, but polls consistently showed overwhelming opposition to joining NATO.
With hype around the Ukraine War, a new poll shows a reversal in trend, with a narrow 53% of Finns now supporting the idea of joining NATO. MPs are also planning to discuss the matter.
With none of the usual obstacles over territory, Finland could conceivably join NATO without obstacle. Whether they should or not is another matter entirely, as Russia has threatened military and political consequences if they do, and its not clear there’s any reason to explore that path apart from needling Russia, provoking them at a particular inopportune time.
Fake Polls . Handiwork of Neocons
Even if the polls were true, it just proves the Finland population are morons, just like most populations.
The Finns are Europes most antisocial population. And this will get them into some very hot water.
Finland’s border with Russia is the fifth-longest, and the second-longest in Europe (Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and Ukraine all have longer borders).
The sentence probably should have been “… with the longest European border with the SU during the Cold War” …
Of course from a military standpoint the nature of a border is more relevant than its length. That is how the German empire/Prussia got a strategic advantage by capturing Alsace Lorraine in 1870.
Seems strange. Why change when neutrality has served them so well for so long at minimal cost? Did the poll indicate that this decision would not be consequence free and that their permanent neighbor would suddenly see them as a threat? Finally, why would Helsinki vote to join the target list of Russian nukes?
Good job, Putin. Driving more countries to consider joining NATO. Maybe they remember your pledge to protect ethnic russians abroad.
Before joining NATO talk to Putin you can trust him as opposed to the US UK , and why would you want to put yourself under the thump of the USA ?.
Dumb female PM will drag her country into a bloody conflict for no reason. What is wrong with her?
“With none of the usual obstacles over territory”
Except, of course, the bits of Russia that Finland claims should be part of Finland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Finland