Secretary of State Pertti Torstila
Speech to the GCSP International Training Course (ITC),
Geneva, 28 October 2009 

Finland's Way through the Cold War to the European Union

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be here with you today. The Geneva Centre for Security Policy is a unique teaching and training institution. Here people from different corners of the world with different views and opinions come together to discuss security policy in a highly competent and inspiring environment. After the course, as GCSP Alumni, you will meet at Annual Security Policy Conferences, discussing security issues and building networks with other experts and institutions. The GCSP network covers today the whole of wider Europe and extends to other continents – to the United States, Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

In Finland we have long since recognized the importance of the expert training in security policy offered by the GCSP. Finnish civil servants and military officers have actively participated in GCSP courses for two decades now – altogether some forty Finns have taken the long or short courses.

I was asked to speak to you today about Finland's room to maneuver during the Cold War and after. I will start by highlighting some of the key conclusions of the Government's White Paper on Finnish Security and Defence Policy. The White Paper was presented to the Parliament this summer. The document assesses the changing global environment and defines Finland's policies on security and defence, stressing the importance of comprehensive security.

The key conclusions are the following:

1. Effective multilateralism is needed. Modern security threats are multidimensional and they call for multilateral solutions. Finland's interests are best advanced through active participation in international multilateral cooperation.

2. EU membership is a security policy choice for Finland. With our EU partners we can efficiently respond to complex global security threats.

3. Not belonging to a military alliance, Finland maintains its defence system based on territorial defence and a credible defence capability.

4. NATO has a special role as a transatlantic defence and security organization. NATO is an important partner for Finland and we will develop our partnership and cooperation with NATO, retaining the possibility of applying for membership.

This is the way we formulate our foreign and security policy thinking today. To reach this point has not always been easy. It has required time, skillful diplomacy and determined effort.

To many, the years of World War II may seem to belong to a distant past. But one cannot understand the Finnish post-war diplomacy without knowing the story of the Winter War in 1939–1940 and the Continuation War in 1941–1944 against the Soviet Union and the war in Lapland against Germany in 1944–1945.

War years were difficult and nothing has shaped the Finnish identity more than the fact that our defence held and we survived. The war welded together our young nation – I should remind you that Finland had been an independent nation just 22 years at the outbreak of the war. The Finnish Army stopped the Red Army twice, in 1939 and 1944. Finland emerged from the war a crippled nation, exhausted and having suffered serious losses. One hundred thousand dead, another hundred thousand disabled, 12 per cent of the territory lost, and rest of the country bombarded and seriously damaged. Half a million Finnish Carelians out of a population of four million were evacuated from the lost territory and resettled inside Finland. Heavy post-war reparation deliveries to the Soviet Union had to be paid in a situation where it was politically impossible for Finland to receive Marshall Aid.

But the war had not been fought in vain. Thanks to the resistance, we avoided the fate of our Baltic neighbours. We were free. Finns had not surrendered, the country was not occupied and we could start building and developing our war-torn land as a sovereign, free nation. These experiences strengthened the Finnish sense of independence and the tradition of relying on one's own capabilities.

The war was over but a new kind of war was at the door – the Cold War. How would we – a small country on the northern flank of Europe, in the immediate neighbourhood of the mighty Soviet Union – manage to sail through the stormy waters of the Cold War?

Finland's international position was closely linked to the East–West division and confrontation. Security issues had primacy in the Finnish foreign policy. A pragmatic, cool and realistic foreign policy was the only possible choice. We did our utmost to maximize our international room to maneuver and we put particular effort to develop and maintain good working relations with the Soviet Union.

"Finlandisation" was the ill-fated word used by some in the West to indicate Soviet influence on countries without the skill and will to resist. Finland and Finlandisation were seen as warning examples to others. I would strongly argue, however, that Finlandisation was not a fair description of what Finland was or how it behaved during the Cold War. Not only did we survive but we developed a society which became one of the most prosperous in the industrialized world. If the Finnish miracle from the ruins of World War II to today’s "Nokia land" is called Finlandisation – then let it be so. Finnish foreign policy after the war has been a tremendous success story.

In 1950s, Finland's international position was strengthened through memberships in both the UN and the Nordic Council. The Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 were an important event to strengthen the nation's spirit and identity. The struggle for neutrality guided our action. The Finnish neutrality in the difficult years of the Cold War was not a free gift. It was constant balance dance between East and West. The policies chosen during the coldest years of the Cold War kept us outside conflicts and tensions. This was a prerequisite for a small, export-driven economy to grow and become closely integrated with Western markets. Finnish growth was first based on forest industries, later more and more on investment in research and innovations in high-tech and electronics. Finnish economic growth was boosted through memberships in the OECD, EFTA, GATT (which later became WTO) and other international economic and trade organisations.

There were changing currents in Soviet and Western policy towards Finnish neutrality. Soviet pressure and criticism against our neutrality endeavours was strong. The Western powers, having been suspicious over the Soviet influence on Finns, turned more supportive of the Finnish foreign policy efforts and initiatives in the 1970s. This policy paid off, in the interest of all. It led to the Helsinki Process in early 1970s and, as a culmination point, to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Helsinki in 1975.

Even today, the Helsinki Process continues to contribute markedly to security and stability in Europe. In the 1970s, it opened perspectives for change which could not at the time be foreseen. I have personally been closely involved in the work of the CSCE/OSCE ever since the start of the Helsinki Process. I believe it is justified to say that Helsinki paved the way to the end of the Cold War, disappearance of the Soviet Union and the end of communism. The Helsinki Final Act and its ten Principles remain an excellent rule book guiding the interaction between participating States. In the present debate on a new European security architecture, the original CSCE/OSCE fabric is as important and valid as it was 34 years ago.

Dear friends,

In Finland's security environment, the most important questions always relate to Russia and Russia's political and economic development as well as its international relations.

Regardless of a tumultuous history with the eastern neighbour, we have managed to develop an active and workable relationship with Russia. It is one of our most important trading partners. Communication between the top political leaders is frequent and open. Russians also make up the largest tourist and immigrant group in Finland. For us, Russia is an important supplier of energy – 35 per cent of Finland's entire energy consumption is imported from Russia. All in all – regardless business cycles – Russia is a key partner for Finland, with significant potential for further expansion of cooperation.

Today, the 1300 kilometres of shared border with Finland is the most stable of all of Russia's borders. Still, for us, living next to a giant neighbour is not without problems. The concerns we share with Russia are related to e.g. the environment, nuclear safety, trade, international crime, as well as customs procedures and border management.

To take an example, the deteriorating condition of the Baltic Sea impacts all coastal states. Being shallow and already polluted, the Baltic Sea is under constant threat through increasing oil transports and other shipping.

We do not expect military pressure or armed aggression from the east. Yet, instead of being a military vacuum we have chosen to maintain a credible defence force. Finnish defence is independent and based on territorial defence, general conscription and a large reserve, unlike most of our neighbours and other EU countries. This system has created the foundation for the strong will amongst Finns to defend the country.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Exactly twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall was torn down and the Cold War was finally over. Finland acted swiftly to first integrate the country’s economy to the European Union through what was called the European Economic Area (EEA). But we soon applied for full EU membership and in 1995, Finland together with Sweden and Austria joined the European Union. We said goodbye to the policy of neutrality by joining a political Union.

For Finland, membership in the European Union was and is a security policy choice. The strength of the European Union lies in the wide range of instruments at its disposal. They include political tools, crisis management, human rights, development and trade policies. Combining both hard and soft measures, the Union is well equipped to be active and effective in a globalized world.

Since the Helsinki European Council meeting in 1999, the development of the European Security and Defence Policy has been remarkable. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty further strengthens the EU's international role. The double-hatted High Representative and the External Action Service will bring cohesion and continuity into the common foreign and security policy. This is important because the need for crisis management capabilities is steadily growing. More than twenty crisis management operations have been undertaken by the EU so far, both civilian and military, among them a maritime mission off the Somali coast.

European security is based on a combination of several organizations. Each of them – the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe and the OSCE – fulfills its own, vital role. The Finnish thinking aims at genuine and broad European cooperation and integration. There should be no "zero sum games". A stronger EU with its diverse set of policy and security instruments is of value for the future development of the whole of Europe.

But Europe also needs NATO, and Finland is a strong supporter of the Euro-American transatlantic link. We do not envisage the EU turning into a military alliance in the traditional NATO-like meaning of the concept. Both organisations have to adapt to a constantly changing environment to remain relevant. We must seek more efficient cooperation and coordination of activities between the EU and NATO and try to avoid duplication of capabilities or actions. Closer EU–NATO cooperation facilitates successful crisis management and benefits us all.

As I already mentioned, Finland develops its partnership and cooperation with NATO and retains the possibility of applying for membership in the organization. We joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) in 1992 as an observer. We signed the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Framework Document right after its creation in 1994. NATO's enlargement has significantly increased stability in Europe, not least in our vicinity around the Baltic Sea. Today's NATO is the most important military security cooperation organisation in the world.

There is a lively debate on NATO membership in Finland. NATO's objectives, tasks and responsibilities are compatible with the foreign and security policy goals of Finland. Some 80 per cent our crisis management troops serve in NATO-led operations, including Afghanistan and Kosovo. Finnish armed forces have been standardized to match the material and operational specifications of NATO.

So why does not Finland join NATO as well? An assessment on the effects of Finland's possible NATO membership was made recently by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The conclusion – repeated in the Government White Paper – was that there are strong grounds for considering Finland's membership. But public support for NATO membership remains low. More than 60 per cent of Finns see no need to join the Alliance and continue to be satisfied with a national defence capability.

We are actively participating in NATO's crisis management operations abroad. At the same time, since we are not a member of a military alliance, we continue to need an independent, national defence capability and keep it in shape. However, traditional security policy instruments and military defence are by far not enough, as the biggest challenges to our security today can only be tackled together.

In addition to increasing international cooperation in general, there is a new impetus in regional and especially in Nordic cooperation on foreign and security matters. Despite their different defence solutions, the five Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – face similar challenges. The rising costs of defence materiel combined with budgetary pressures are a challenge to us all. Therefore Finland is in the process of deepening its security and defence policy cooperation with other Nordic countries in areas such as multilateral training and exercises. Finland, Sweden and Norway have decided to develop new forms of military cooperation in order to gain synergies and to improve joint capabilities. This cooperation includes such areas as maritime and air surveillance, logistics, training, defence-related R&D and materiel cooperation.

The world of today is more secure than before, as there is no risk of a serious confrontation between major powers. But our political environment is not risk-free. Finland may be a small country but it has never been isolated from world politics – quite the contrary. Throughout our history we have closely felt both the positive and negative effects of power politics. We have always been sensitive to strategic changes and realities and continue to contribute to regional and global stability. Finns have found their place on the borderline between East and West acting as a responsible and reliable member of the European Union and the international community.

Thank you for your attention. It has been a privilege to speak to you today.