What line won’t the Kremlin cross? Nobody knows anymore, not even in a country like Finland, which has much experience in reading Russia’s signals.
Stretching over 1,300 kilometers (807 miles), Finland’s eastern frontier is the European Union’s longest border with Russia. It has been peaceful between the countries since the end of World War II. But, now that Russia has — without provocation — attacked another sovereign neighbor, Finns aren’t taking their situation for granted.
Until now, Finns felt they didn’t need the mutual defense guarantee of NATO allies, with a majority of the population consistently rejecting any suggestion of seeking membership.
That was until February 24 — when Russia attacked Ukraine.
Suddenly, according to a poll commissioned by the national broadcaster YLE, 53% of respondents wanted to join NATO. This month, that figure climbed even higher — to 62%.
Besides the fact that Russia attacked Ukraine is a new primary motivation: Happiness with a freer life and economic success on Russian borders is extremely periloous to Russia. Russia’s borderlands with Finland are mostly Karelians, who are far more Finnish than Russian, including as to speaking Finnish.
Back after the “Orange Revolution” Russia knew the Ukrainians were quickly coming to prefer to have open economic borders and similar laws and freedoms to neighbor Poland than bad step-mother Russia. Panic. And the same process is happening now in Russian Karelia and Finland is to blame…
I just today received a long email from my first cousin in Estonia. She is about 5 years longer than me, but she lived through the Russian rule of Estonia after WWII and now in the new freedom gained after the breakup of the USSR. She says she is worried about Russian rule of Estonia again, which was horrible time, that she does not want to live through again. She agrees with NATO’s efforts to make Estonia secure and hopes that Putin is forever neutralized.
Here is what the Prime Minister of Estonia recently wrote in an opinion piece in the NYT:
Estonians will fight like the Ukrainians if Russia tries to invade Estonia. The same feeling is a universal in all the Eastern European countries that have known Russian rule.
WRT to the Karelian people who still live in Russia, the Finnish and Estonian people will provide them any support they can to be free of Russian rule.
I just today received a long email from my first cousin in Estonia. She is about 5 years longer than me…
Cool. So Estonians get taller as they age rather than shrinking.
“Unless you have a bone disease, shrinking in height is considered a normal part of aging. People typically start to shrink after the age of 40 and lose about half an inch each decade. After the age of 80, it’s possible for both men and women to lose another inch.” www.medicare.org/articles/how-to-prevent-shrinking-with-age/….
Well Finland seems to have made up their minds. The country needs to get on with it before Russian troops amass on their border and ward off NATO. That most certainly can happen.
