Foreign Minister Stubb sees no change in Russian policy on NATO

Expert says people are simply paying more attention to what Russia says.

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The Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, and the Russian Ambassador to Finland say that Russia's attitude toward the expansion of NATO to Russia's borders has not changed. The Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Pertti Salolainen (Nat. Coalition Party), said recently that there has been such a change, and that the change is an impediment to possible Finnish membership in NATO.
      The topic has been the focus of intense debate among foreign policy buffs ever since Salolainen expressed his views in a television interview programme on Saturday. On Monday, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) criticised those who felt the same way as Salolainen, saying that there is a tradition in Finland to unnecessarily look at any statements coming from Russia with a magnifying glass.
     Russian President Vladimir Putin said a week ago at the NATO summit in Bucharest that the expansion of the alliance would be seen as a direct threat to Russia. The focus of the meeting was on the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia.
     
Russia's Ambassador to Finland, Alexandr Rumyanchev, says that Russia's stand on the eastward expansion of NATO is negative, but he does not say that the stand would have intensified.
     "Russia takes a negative view of NATO enlargement. That is our stand in principle, which has not changed. Most recently this stand was expressed in detail by President Vladimir Putin in connection with the NATO summit in Bucharest", Rumyanchev said on Tuesday to Helsingin Sanomat.
     The Ambassador did not want to take a stand on how a possible Finnish application for membership in NATO would affect relations between Russia and Finland. However, he pointed out that President Putin had said already last year that "the approach of military infrastructure toward the Russian border, using the territory of Finland, would not promote the improvement in the atmosphere of relations between our countries."
     Putin also observed that "the final choice will naturally be made by the Finnish people and the Finnish leadership."
     
At the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Arkady Moshes, the head of the Russian studies programme, says that Russia's policy on the matter has been the same at least since 1994.
     "The view has always been expressed in the same words. Russia has said that each country has the right to choose how it deals with its security, but that Russia nevertheless reserves the right to react to this, because Russia also needs to take care of its security", Moshes says.
     In his view, one reason for worried reactions in Western countries could be that the West is more likely to listen to Russia now that it is economically and politically stronger than it was in the 1990s.
     "Russia, which was described as weak and friendly, was not always necessarily listened to. It is much more difficult to deal with today's Russia.
     
Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) has also not sensed any change.
     "Russia takes a negative attitude toward enlargement, but at the same time it admits that the decision is in the hands of each country. I would emphasise that if the view is repeated, it does not change it", Stubb said to Helsingin Sanomat.
     "I agree with Prime Minister Vanhanen that not every statement by Russia should be esamined with a magnifying glass. We live in the world of the 21st century and Russia naturally has the freedom to express itself."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Vanhanen: NATO statements by Russia no cause for concern (8.4.2008)
  Foreign Affairs Committee chairman: Listen to Russia´s comments on NATO (7.4.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat