Finland and NATO: How the Forgetting of Lessons of the Past Can Lead to their Repetition

Abstract

In this article we are investigating Finland’s approach to participation in military-political alliances with its neighboring countries in the Baltic Sea region. The most active attempts to establish a regional system of collective security had been undertaken in 1920s - 1930s and were suspended shortly after the end of the Second World War. During the Cold War embeddedness of Finland into the «Nordic balance» system guaranteed strategic stability of the country in the system of complex military security relations between the Warsaw pact countries and the NATO. Furthermore being a neutral country, Finland was able to play a role of a helpful mediator between the USSR and the West. However the end of the Cold War triggered the return of Helsinki to the pursuit of an enhanced military-political integration with the European countries and the USA. Following this path for almost 25 years, Finland has abandoned its neutral status and reached the maximum possible level of integration with NATO. However, we claim that in the foreseeable future all discussions between Finnish experts and politicians about the necessity to join the NATO will not be implemented in practice for several reasons. Firstly, if Finland becomes a member of NATO, it will inevitable trigger a symmetrical military-political response from Russia and will create unnecessary difficulties in bilateral relations. Secondly, Finland has elaborated sucha sophisticated mechanism of military coordination with NATO countries, that the formal accession to the Alliance could be considered as just an excessive formality.