The Finland–Russia Society (
Finnish: ''Suomi-Venäjä-Seura''), formerly called the Finland – Soviet Union Society (Finnish: ''Suomi-Neuvostoliitto-Seura''), is a Finnish
registered association
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
that promotes friendly
relations
Relation or relations may refer to:
General uses
* International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level
* Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people
* ...
between
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, ...
and
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 ...
(formerly 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 ...
). In 2014, it had circa 12,500 members. Since 2020, it has been chaired by Member of the Parliament
Petri Honkonen.
History
The Finland-Soviet Union Society was founded on 15 October 1944, less than a month after the
Moscow Armistice
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...
that had ended 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 ...
between Finland and the USSR. Attendees of the Society's founding meeting included future Presidents
Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...
and
J. K. Paasikivi and playwright
. The Society promoted signing of the
Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948
The Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance of 1948, also known as the YYA Treaty from the Finnish () ( Swedish: was the basis for Finno–Soviet relations from 1948 to 1992. It was the main instrument in implementing ...
.
Goals and activities
The Finland–Russia Society tries to create partnerships and dialogue between Finns and Russians and promote knowledge of Russia and
Finno-Ugric peoples
Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century ...
. Its activities include supplying Russian
visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
* Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country
* Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Vi ...
s to Finns and organizing many kinds of cultural events.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finland-Russia Society
Finland friendship associations
Organizations established in 1944
Finland–Russia relations