Editorial | This year, Russia became an outcast, Finland applied to NATO and the EU came together

Editorial|Editorial

Security policy reversals became increasingly difficult to predict this year. Mentally, the year was difficult for many Finns, because it brought to the surface the fears related to the Russian threat.

Russia became a pariah state when it launched a major invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, Russia violated the post-Cold War European security order. The relationship between the EU and Russia, energy connections and trade were broken. Ukraine is fighting for its independence, and the war may continue for a long time.

The facts were quickly established in Finland and Sweden. Russia determined Finland’s direction once again. The year of Finnish politics was dominated by the decision to apply for NATO.

Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO memberships are still the election targets of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is worried about his support. It’s grim, but at the same time, at least NATO’s internal problems have become clear to Finns.

However, NATO membership has solid support from Finland’s most important allies. Even if the waiting time in NATO’s lobby increases, Finland has no problem.

This year deepened the relationship between the United States and Europe. The war forced the EU countries to take a strategic role in keeping Ukraine upright and at the same time also in the global superpower struggle.

Russia was weakened this year.

Year ends, but the surprises continue. They can also be produced by the allies, as the politics of the United States turns to the election situation.

It may be that US President Joe Biden is not doing as well and Russian President Vladimir Putin as badly as he would like.

Russia has 14 neighbors, all of whom were worried by its actions. Finland has been able to be quite at peace, but its neighbors in Central Asia are restless. The relationship with Russia is changing in many ways. After the campaign was launched in September, hundreds of thousands of people left Russia, many of whom were headed for Kazakhstan.

The United States and the Western bloc sought support from developing countries and regional powers. The position of India, Brazil and South Africa strengthened. However, it is not obvious that they would support the goals of Western democracies.

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China did not condemn Russia, but nuclear weapons were too much for China.

International institutions, such as the UN and the European Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), were under great pressure. At the end of the year, the European Parliament and the reputation of the EU were shaken by a criminal suspicion – Qatar is suspected of bribing a parliamentarian. The political unity of the European Union lasted even when Russia launched its energy weapons against Europe. Europe was hit by the energy crisis, inflation and also global concern about food sufficiency, when the Russian blockade and war prevented grain shipments from Ukraine.

The political weight of the Persian Gulf countries increased this year, when Europe’s hasty disconnection from Russian gas forced the West to tighten its relations with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries. They are authoritarian fossil powers just like Russia.

China and Russia are united by the fact that they want to weaken the United States. Russia had the tacit approval of China for its major offensive. China watched how Russia, which challenged the West, was doing. China did not condemn Russia, even though Russia violates the principle of territorial integrity, which is important to China. However, nuclear weapons were too much for China.

China had stronger moments and weaker moments. President Xi Jinping strengthened his own position, but had to make a complete turnaround in pandemic policy. Tensions between the US and China revolve around Taiwan, the center of the world’s semiconductor industry. The Biden administration has signaled readiness to defend Taiwan if the China-Taiwan conflict escalates.

Even in the foreign policy speeches of key politicians in Finland, concerns about China risks were heard more acutely than before.

The editorials are HS’s positions on a current topic. The articles are prepared by HS’s editorial department, and they reflect the magazine principle line.