Ukraine must not sacrifice its right to make its own decisions for sake of peace, - Finnish Ministry of Defence
Janne Kuusela, State Secretary at the Finnish Ministry of Defense, stated that Ukraine should not sacrifice its sovereignty or its right to make independent decisions in exchange for peace.
According to Censor.NET, this is reported by Ukrinform.
"Many people draw this comparison, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate. To be honest, the period often referred to as ‘Finlandization’—we don’t like that term, but it exists—means that after World War II, when we managed to remain an independent country despite a difficult struggle with the Soviet Union, we were somewhat isolated," said Kuusela.
The most important thing was that Finland remained an independent Western market economy and had the opportunity to develop its society, he noted. But in practice, the country lost some of its sovereignty in the sense that it could not integrate with the West as it wished, and it was not allowed to join NATO. And the Soviet Union had a significant influence on political decision-making in Helsinki.
"We had to find a way to survive. We are not proud of that period. It was a means of survival for Finland under those circumstances. There are many aspects of my country that I can recommend to other nations, but not this one. My sincere hope is that Ukraine will remain not only an independent but also a sovereign country. Ukrainians have earned this through their hard struggle and the resilience of their nation. It would be a historical injustice if Ukraine were not allowed to retain the right to make its own decisions," the politician emphasized.
What happened before?
Analysts at JPMorgan Chase recently identified "Finlandization" as the most likely outcome of the war. They believe that Kyiv may agree to neutrality and restrictions on its military. In fact, this concept has been discussed almost since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
