At the end of the week If the Russia that Boris Yeltsin wanted had come true, Finland would also be safe

In 1995 Finland allies. And the Finns were excited about what Russia was saying.

Russia was not a science fool. Prime minister Esko Aho (Central) visited Moscow in January 1995, three weeks after Finland’s EU membership came into force. He was received by the President Boris Yeltsin.

Yeltsin warmly congratulated Finland on joining the EU. He then continued: “I hope that you will also support Russia’s accession to the European Union.”

In recent days, sleep has not really come. As I have supervised and pondered the way the world is going, Boris Yeltsin has become missed.

It has revolved around how one person can sometimes reverse the direction of an entire state – or more.

Yeltsin the turning point came in August 1991, when the Communist forces attempted a coup in Moscow. Yeltsin stood stiff on the roof of the tank and led the crowd. Yeltsin’s line won, and soon the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

In the early 1990s, all directions were open to Russia. The decision-makers in Moscow were interested in democracy and the market economy and the opportunity to cooperate with Europe. Even Russia’s membership of the EU was sometimes hailed in Moscow and European capitals in the future, but nothing progressed.

The direction of Yeltsin’s hopes can now be remembered with longing. One can also miss the time of innocence, when worries about Russia were related to whether or not the president was publicly drunk.

As head of state, Yeltsin undeniably failed. And as his last act, he appointed the head of the Security Service FSB to succeed him Vladimir Putin.

Putin has not been interested in Europeanizing Russia. But the Russification of Europe. Or rather Sovietization.

An individual identity is never complete. It is contradictory and changes over time. It’s nice to have like-minded friends. What belongs in it affects self-image.

So it may go to the nations.

The leader can shape the people’s perception of himself. Many resort to the nostalgic glorification of the past. More courageous are those leaders who dare to move towards the new and the unknown, believing that there is better.

Sometimes leaders only become implementers in a direction that the people have already chosen.

The turmoil in Ukraine began in the fall of 2013. At that time, EU flags were waving in Kiev. The president at the time Viktor Yanukovych – or his supporters in Moscow – did not want to be closer to Europe. The people wanted to. And that’s what Ukrainians still want to be, Europeans. To the west is also the current president Volodymyr Zelenskyi wants to export the country.

It scares Putin. He is stuck in the past.

Nightly under supervision I have also felt gratitude. It is wonderful that Finland belongs to the community of European democracies. Thank you for the EU membership of the leaders of the early 1990s. The European identity was already in the hands of the Finns, but the vision of the leaders was needed to clarify it as the direction of the state.

Esko Aho was also one of the leaders of that time. His later reputation is tarnished by the fact that he sold himself to the Russian Sberbank and thus to the Putin project.

Honor cannot be given to those politicians, for example many basic Finns, who have pushed Finland away from the EU in recent years. If they had succeeded, we would now be alone and detached as a prey to Putin.

If the Russia that Yeltsin wanted had come true, Finland would also be safe.

A new treaty was signed between Finland and Russia in 1992. In July, President Yeltsin arrived in Finland and delivered a speech at the Presidential Palace.

Something historically amazing followed: the Russian leader admitted his country had done wrong. Yeltsin did not mention the Soviet Union by name but said that “at that time direct attempts were made to interfere in the internal affairs of independent Finland”.

Then, 30 years ago, the President of Russia made a promise: “As President of Russia, I can assure you on behalf of the people that such acts will never darken Russia’s relations with Finland again. We have refused them once and for all. ”

That is why Boris Yeltsin in particular is missing.

Finland is now considering a new alliance. Again, it is exciting what Russia thinks about it.

It is clear that Putin cares little about his predecessor’s promise not to interfere in our affairs. He is intimidated by the possible NATO membership of Russia’s only non-military western neighbors, Ukraine and Finland. The whole of Europe is now suffering from his fears.

In the current crisis, the history of many European countries may change direction.

The direction of Russia has already changed. Now Russia is completely isolated. Its economy is collapsing. No one trusts it and wants to belong to the same gang. Russia has become a wrecked state. It is tragic for the Russian people that this has happened because of one man.