Mantra against Finlandisation

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By Erkki Pennanen
     
      When talk in Finland or elsewhere in Europe turns to Vladimir Putin's Russia, it seems to be a requirement that every politician and civilised citizen should first take up the development of democracy in Russia and the human rights situation there.
      Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, in his capacity as EU President had invited Putin to a dinner session of an unofficial summit of EU leaders. The main question in Finland and elsewhere immediately became whether or not Finland would dare take up these specific questions.
     
He did, because it was what was expected of the holder of the EU Presidency, but the challenge was not nearly as difficult for Matti Vanhanen as many might have imagined.
      The human rights situation in Russia was also discussed last summer at a G8 meeting hosted by Putin in St. Petersburg, where Vanhanen also spoke as Prime Minister of the holder of the EU Presidency.
      Putin is also accustomed to confronting the question in every international press conference and interview, and it does not seem to perturb him. The extent to which his responses satisfy the listeners is a different matter altogether.
     
There is no denying that Russia's progress on the road to democracy is painfully slow, and not at all straightforward. One must not and one cannot close one's eyes about this in Europe.
      However, this should not be publicly made into a kind of threshold issue for cooperation between Europe and Russia that would overshadow everything else. Russia has, after all, been a member of the Council of Europe all this time.
      The European Union can set various criteria and conditions for admittance to states that want to join the EU. These countries include Turkey.
      Russia, however, is not seeking membership. It is interested in closer cooperation with the EU, but it draws a line between cooperation and integration.
      Since the collapse of communism, and in spite of Putin's Western orientation, Russia has remained an enigmatic country for Europe, which is neither known nor understood by others. The slowness and setbacks of its progress toward democracy have given a good reason to observe it with wariness, and keeping a distance.
     
As EU members, the Finns also want to get rid of the long shadow of Finlandisation of the previous generations. Attitudes toward Russia have begun to resemble those of other parts of Europe. This is why Russia's human rights record needs to be raised at meetings with Putin.
      According to poll commissioned by the late edition tabloid newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, 39 percent of Finns felt that Finland should be more critical of Russia. A slightly larger percentage were happy with the current policy. When asked "do you trust Putin?", 66 percent answered "fairly little" or "not at all". It is anyone's guess what people actually meant with the various answers.
      On the other hand, keeping Russia's progress toward democracy in the conspicuous forefront of discussions between the EU and Russia is to a great extent a part of the publicity game played by politicians. More noise is made about it in the public eye than at the negotiating table.
     
How could it be otherwise, as both have constantly only intensified their economic and other cooperation, and their mutual dependence. For instance, the European Union will soon be importing half of its natural gas from Russia, and Russia will get most of its export revenue from supplying energy to the EU countries.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 26.10.2006


Previously in HS International Edition:
  PM Vanhanen: Russian democracy different than in Western Europe (18.10.2006)
  PM Vanhanen not worried about Putin´s participation in EU summit (17.10.2006)

ERKKI PENNANEN / Helsingin Sanomat
erkki.pennanen@hs.fi