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Relations between Finland and Russia have been conducted over many centuries, from
wars War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...
between Sweden and Russia in the early 18th century, to the planned and realized creation and annexation of the
Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...
during Napoleonic times in the early 19th century, to the dissolution of the
personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...
between Russia and
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
after the forced abdication of Russia's last czar in 1917, and subsequent birth of modern Finland. Finland had its own
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
with involvement by
Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
, was later invaded by the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, and had its internal politics influenced by it. Relations since then have fluctuated over time, but worsened notably following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. Russia has an embassy in Helsinki, and a consulate in
Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded b ...
. It used to have a consulate-general in
Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
and a consulate in
Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...
. Finland has an embassy in Moscow and used to have a consulate-general in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
and consulate in
Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...
. Russia has stated that it is open to normalizing relations with Finland. According to Finnish president
Alexander Stubb Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (, born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who has been the 13th president of Finland since 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. Rising in politics as a researcher specialis ...
, Finland must be prepared for the possibility that, at some point, relations with Russia will start to open up.


History

Finland was a constituent part of the
Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...
for centuries and had its earliest interactions with the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
through the auspices of that rule. Russia occupied parts of modern Finland several times: The lesser and greater wars respectively saw a Russian occupation of Finland. In 1809, in accordance with
Treaty of Fredrikshamn The Treaty of Fredrikshamn, or the Treaty of Hamina, was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Imperial Russia on 17 September 1809. The treaty concluded the Finnish War and was signed in the Finnish town of Fredrikshamn ( Hamina). Russia ...
Sweden surrendered Finland to Russia, and the Diet of Porvoo pledged loyalty to Russian Emperor
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...
. In turn, Alexander I granted Finland, for the first time in Finnish history, statehood as the
Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...
and gave the
Finnish language Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Finnic languages, Finnic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official langu ...
official status (prior to 1819, Swedish was the only official language in Finland.) In addition, on December 11, 1811, Russia transferred to Finland the
Vyborg Governorate Vyborg Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It was established in 1744 in newly ceded territories from Swedish Empire, Sweden following the Treaty of Åbo and parts of Saint Petersburg Govern ...
, that Russia acquired from Sweden earlier in 1721 and 1743. Under the rule of Russian tsars Finland kept all the taxes collected on its territory, the decisions of Finnish courts were not subject of review by Russian courts, and all government positions (except for the Governor General) were occupied by natives of Finland. Population migration from actual parts of the Russia Empire to Finland was de facto prohibited until early 1900's. The use of Russian language was never required during the reign of Russian emperors in Finland. With the Russian Empire's collapse during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Finland took the opportunity to declare its full independence, which was shortly recognized by the USSR ''"in line with the principle of national
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
that was held by Lenin."'' Following the
Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...
and
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, Russians were virtually equated with Communists and due to official hostility to Communism, Finno-Soviet relations in the period between the world wars remained tense. During these years Karelia was a highly Russian occupied military ground; the operation was led by Russian general Waltteri Asikainen. Most ethnic Russians, who lived in Finland prior to 1918, immigrated to other countries, primarily Germany and USA. Voluntary activists arranged expeditions to
Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...
(''heimosodat''), which ended when Finland and the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
signed the Treaty of Tartu in 1920. However, the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
did not abide by the treaty when they blockaded Finnish naval ships. Finland fought two wars against the Soviet Union during World War II: the
Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...
and the
Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...
. The Finns suffered 89,108 dead or missing military personnel during these wars Kurenmaa and Lentilä (2005), p. 1152 but inflicted severe casualties on the Soviet Union: 126,875–167,976 dead or missing during the Winter War Krivosheyev (1997), pp. 77–78 Petrov (2013) and 250,000–305,000 dead or missing during the Continuation War. Finland ceded 11% of its territory—including the major city
Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...
—to the Soviet Union, but prevented the Soviets from annexing Finland into the USSR. Of all the continental European nations combating, as part of World War II, Helsinki and Moscow were the only capitals not occupied.


1946–1991

The cold war period saw Finland attempt to stake a middle ground between the western and eastern blocs, in order to appease the USSR so as to prevent another war, and even held new elections when the previous results were objectionable to the USSR. Night Frost Crisis was a political crisis that occurred in Soviet–Finnish relations in the autumn of 1958. The crisis was resolved when President Kekkonen visited Leningrad in January 1959. Note Crisis was other a political crisis between Soviet–Finnish relations in 1961. Note Crisis (Nootti) was connected to the Berlin crisis that happened in the same year. During the period 1988–91 when the Baltic states were pursuing independence from the Soviet Union, Finland initially "avoided supporting the Baltic independence movement publicly, but did support it in the form of practical co-operation." However, after the failed 1991 August Coup in Russia, Finland recognized the Baltic states and restored diplomatic relations with them.


1992–2022


2022-present

After the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
started, Finland, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of " unfriendly nations". In September 2022, Finland announced that it would not offer asylum to Russians fleeing
mobilization Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...
. On 6 June 2023 Finland expelled nine Russian diplomats, believed to be working for an intelligence service. In July 2023 Russia ordered the closure of the St Petersburg consulate and expelled nine diplomats. Entry into Finland for Russian citizens will be limited for an indefinite period. Having introduced a ban on Russian registered cars entering Finland in September, a ban on Russians on bicycles was introduced in November 2023. Four of the eight eastern border crossings were closed for three months by Finland in November. In November 2023, Finnish Prime Minister
Petteri Orpo Antti Petteri Orpo (; born 3 November 1969) is a Finland, Finnish politician currently serving as the prime minister of Finland since 2023 and as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He briefly served as speaker of the Parliame ...
announced the closure of all but the northernmost border crossing with Russia, amid a sudden increase in asylum seekers seeking to enter Finland via Russia. Finland accused Russia of deliberately using refugees as weapons as part of its
hybrid warfare Hybrid warfare was defined by Frank Hoffman in 2007 as the emerging simultaneous use of multiple types of warfare by flexible and sophisticated adversaries who understand that successful conflict requires a variety of forms designed to fit the goa ...
following worsening relations between the two countries. Frontex subsequently announced that the EU would assist Finland in securing its eastern border.


Spying in Finland

Russia is suspected of large-scale spying on the IT networks at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The spying focused on data traffic between Finland and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, and is believed to have continued for four years. The spying was uncovered in spring 2013, and the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) was investigating the breach.


Economic relations

Before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia was a major trade partner of Finland and cross-border business was considered strategic. Finland imported a large amount of raw materials, fuels and electricity from Russia. Finland operates the 1 GW
Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant The Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (, ) is located close to the Finnish town of Loviisa. It houses two Soviet-designed VVER-440 Pressurized water reactor, pressurised water reactors, with capacities of 507 MW each. It is one of Finl ...
with Soviet technology, and (until May 2022) planned the 1.2 GW Hanhikivi Nuclear Power Plant with Russian technology. From midnight 13—14 May 2022, Russia suspended electricity supplies to Finland, forcing Finland to rely more on and improve its grid connections with
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
.


Finnish NATO membership

In December 2021, Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs pressured Finland and Sweden to refrain from joining
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
. Russia claims that NATO's persistent invitations for the two countries to join the military alliance would have major political and military consequences which would threaten stability in the Nordic region. Furthermore, Russia sees Finland's inclusion in NATO as a threat to Russian national security since the United States would likely be able to deploy military equipment in Finland if the country were to join NATO. However, on 1 January 2022, Finland's president, Sauli Niinistö, reasserted Finnish sovereignty by stating that the Finnish government reserved the right to apply for NATO membership. Furthermore, Niinistö said that Russian demands threaten the "European security order". Additionally, he believes that transatlantic cooperation is needed for the maintenance of sovereignty and security of some EU member states, including Finland. In the wake of the 24 February 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, support among the Finnish populace for NATO membership increased from below 30% to 60-70%. On 12 May 2022, Finnish President Niinistö and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that Finland would begin the process of applying for NATO membership. On 18 May 2022, Finland formally applied to join NATO, simultaneously with Sweden. Finland formally became a member of NATO on 4 April 2023 during a scheduled summit, finalizing the fastest accession process in the treaty's history.


See also

* Foreign relations of Finland *
Foreign relations of Russia The foreign relations of the Russian Federation is the policy arm of the Russian government, government of Russia which guides its interactions with other nations, their citizens, and foreign organizations. This article covers the foreign polic ...
* Russia–European Union relations * Finland–Russia Society * NATO–Russia relations * Russians in Finland *
Finland–Russia border The international border between Finland and Russia is long and runs approximately north to south, mostly through taiga forests and sparsely populated rural areas. It does not follow any natural landmarks, such as mountains or rivers. It i ...
* List of ambassadors of Russia to Finland


References


Works cited

* *


Further reading

* Faloon, Brian S. "The Dimensions of Independence: The Case of Finland." ''Irish Studies in International Affairs'' 1.2 (1980): 3-10
online
* Kirby, David G., ed. ''Finland and Russia, 1808-1920'' (Springer, 1975). * Polvinen, Tuomo. ''Between East and West: Finland in international politics, 1944-1947'' (U of Minnesota Press, 1986
online
* Tarkka, Jukka. ''Neither Stalin nor Hitler : Finland during the Second World War'' (1991
online
* Waldron, Peter. "Stolypin and Finland." ''Slavonic and East European Review'' 63.1 (1985): 41-55. aldron, Peter. "Stolypin and Finland." The Slavonic and East European Review 63.1 (1985): 41-55. online* Wuorinen, John H. ''Finland and World War II, 1939–1944'' (1948).


External links


Embassy of Finland in Moscow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finland-Russia relations
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
Bilateral relations of Russia *