Jukka Seppinen used plenty of material from the archives of the Security Police for his book. This shows that the Finnish Communist Party was under very close surveillance throughout the whole era of Urho Kekkonen.
The surveillance was authorised by the President. Kekkonen carefully read all of the reports of the Communists. The Security Police, and Kekkonen, had several moles inside the Communist Party. They were paid out of state funds for spying on the party.
The surveillance continued until the early 1980s when President Mauno Koivisto put a stop to it.
Kekkonen’s methods were far from today’s system. Surveillance of a large party was considered natural. There was no debate on the powers of the Security Police, nor were there calls to bring it under Parliamentary control.
The Finland of the Kekkonen era is sometimes compared with the socialist countries of Eastern Europe.
In the socialist countries the secret police kept tabs on citizens on the orders of the Communist Party. In Finland the Security Police monitored the Communist Party under orders from Kekkonen. There is a difference there.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 4.9.2004
