VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Neighbourly Russian-Finnish relations are noted for an intensive political dialogue, a considerable trade turnover volume demonstrating a tendency to rise, and Russian northwest regions' direct participation in cooperation.
The territory of present Finland was the theatre of war between Russians and Swedes for centuries. Finland became part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy following the War of 1808-1809. This status gave Finland broad autonomy. It had its own unicameral parliament, currency and customs border with Russia. The Finnish Language along with Russian and Swedish received an official status, which accelerated the formation of the Finnish nation.
Following the October Revolution in Russia, the Finnish Parliament adopted on December 6, 1917 a declaration of state independence, but attempts to seek its recognition without the Soviet Government's authorisation were in vain. After receiving an official application, the Soviet Government adopted a decree on the recognition of the state independence of the Finnish Republic on December 31, 1917.
There were a lot of obstacles in relations between the Soviet Union and Finland, which had only just received independence. The countries waged two wars against each other: in 1939-40, and in 1941-44, as Finland allied with Nazi Germany.
Following the Second World War, the Soviet Union received the Karelian Isthmus, Vyborg, the western Bay of Vyborg, lands to the west and north of Lake Ladoga, a group of islands in the Gulf of Finland, a part of the Rybachy and Sredny Peninsulas in the Barents Sea, and the Pechenga area. Over 400,000 people moved from these territories to Finland. The present Russian-Finnish border is specified by the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. Also, the two countries concluded an agreement on the Aland Islands demilitarisation.
In the post-war period, Soviet-Finnish relations became an example of a peaceful coexistence policy; they were characterised through an intensive political dialogue and trade, which in the mid-1980s reached 25% of Finland's foreign trade volume.
From time to time, the Finnish media bring up the question of demanding that Russia return lands formerly belonging to Finland. However, the Finnish Government believes that there are no territorial disputes between the two countries, with the present Russian-Finnish border specified by international legal acts.
On December 30, 1991 Finland recognised Russia as the Soviet Union's successor state. In January 1992, Russia and Finland concluded the Agreement on Basic Principles of Relations. There are currently over 80 Russian-Finnish interstate and intergovernmental agreements that regulate almost all areas of bilateral interaction.
In the last decade, Russian and Finnish officials have developed stable political contacts at the top and high levels. Finnish President Tarja Halonen paid an official visit to Russia at the beginning of her first term, in June 2000. In September 2001 and in August 2005, the Russian President paid official visits to Finland. In 2007, the two heads of state met twice, on July 19 in Saransk, the Republic of Mordovia, and on September 30 when Tarja Halonen was on an private visit to Moscow to participate in theatre director Yury Lyubimov's birthday celebrations. On June 28, 2008 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held his first meeting with his Finnish counterpart after assuming office at the Fifth World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples in Khanty-Mansiisk. On April 20-21, 2009 President Medvedev paid an official visit to Finland.
The Prime Ministers of Russia and Finland have developed an active dialogue; from 2000 to 2007 they met twice a year. On November 12, 2008 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held negotiations in Moscow with his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen.
Foreign, Interior, Economic Development, Trade and Transport Ministers, as well as heads of customs and border departments of the two countries maintain regular contacts. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb six times in 2008, and twice in 2009.
Russian and Finnish MPs interact actively as well. There is the Group of Friendship with Russia in the Finnish Parliament, and the Group for Contacts with the Finnish Parliament in the Russian State Duma, headed by Chairman of the Committee for the North and the Far East Valentina Pivnenko. Speakers of Russia's State Duma and Federation Council visited Finland on several occasions.
Finland is one of Russia's major trade partners. According to Russia's Federal Customs Service, in 2008 the Russian-Finnish commodity turnover reached a record $22.4 billion (growing 42.1% compared with 2007), including exports making up $15.8 billion (a growth of 46.9%), and import $6.6 billion (a growth of 32%); the positive trade balance totalled $9.2 billion. Russia now ranks first on Finland's trade partners list, rising from the second place and thus surpassing Germany. Finland occupies eleventh place on the list of Russia's foreign trade partners, ranking fifth among EU countries. Oil and gas prices, which surged twofold in 2008, made a key contribution to the trade turnover growth.
Due to the current global economic downturn and plummeting oil prices, from January to March 2009, the trade turnover between the two countries fell by 44%, with export diminishing by 41%, and import by 51% compared with the same period in 2008.
The Russian-Finnish Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation aims at promoting the development of bilateral trade and economic relations. This Commission gathered for its tenth session in Moscow on March 20, 2009. The Commission's co-chairs - Russia's Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina and Finland's Trade and Development Minister Paavo Väyrynen - hold regular meetings in between sessions.
Cooperation of contiguous regions plays an important role in the Russian-Finnish relations. In legal terms, such cooperation is based on the 1992 Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Murmansk Region, the Republic of Karelia, St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, and in practical terms, it is coordinated by the Russian-Finnish Intergovernmental Group for Cooperation between Contiguous Regions under the two countries' Foreign Ministries. This Group gathered for its twelfth meeting in Helsinki on November 17, 2008.
A unique aspect of Russian-Finnish cooperation is Finland's rental lease of a strip of Russian land, namely a part of the Saimaa Canal that connects Finnish inland water systems with the Baltic Sea; this arrangement is based on the 1962 Intergovernmental Agreement, which expires in 2013. The two countries have almost finished negotiations on its prolongation.
There are nine well-equipped international checkpoints on the Russian-Finnish border, which makes this section of the Russian state border one of the most secure.
Bilateral environmental cooperation has been developing actively. Finland assists with the implementation of several major environmental projects in Russia, including the construction of water treatment plants in St Petersburg.
Russia and Finland observe the 1992 cooperation agreement on commemorating Russian (Soviet) servicemen in Finland and Finnish servicemen in Russia who died in World War II. A number of memorials to those who fell in the wars from 1939 to 1944 were opened on the territories of both countries.
Friendship societies promote closer bilateral contacts, with cultural cooperation developing in various areas as well. Since 2000, the Russian-Finnish Cultural Forum has been held annually; on October 9-10, 2008 Russian Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeyev participated in the Ninth Russian-Finnish Cultural Forum in Jyväskylä, Finland. There are over 150 pairs of twin towns and villages in the two countries.
Finns have great respect for Russia's cultural heritage. In recent years, despite the commercialisation of cultural contacts, cultural exchanges between Russia and Finland have grown considerably.
Contacts between Finno-Ugric peoples, including Karelians, Veps, Komi, Mordvins, Mari, Udmurts, Khanty, Mansi and Komi-Permyaks, have been developing successfully, with Finland fostering these ethnicities' national and cultural development. The two countries cooperate to preserve the national and cultural identity of Russians that live in Finland and to help them develop ties with their historical homeland.
