Finland’s decision to seek NATO membership and the removal of the last remaining Lenin statues in the country in 2022 highlighted a change in how perceptions of Russia have shifted in Finland post-February 24, 2022. And some argue that the Finns’ previous reticence regarding America is also on the decline.
The option of joining NATO entered our public discourse after the USSR dissolved and was heavily debated ever since. However many people thought how joining NATO would endanger our relations with Russia and how joining NATO would get us involved in foreign wars. When Russia attacked Ukraine, our public discourse went 180 degrees. People wanted safety, and of course the attack mirrored the Winter War. So many people who were previously unsure, suddenly wanted Finland to launch negotiations about joining NATO immediately.
Neutrality towards a neighbor is an option… if that neighbor is a liberal democracy respecting human rights.
“eight decades” ago would be 1943 when Finland ended its alliance with the Nazis so I think some context is important when discussing this “neutrality” https://nypost.com/2019/02/10/finland-helped-nazis-murder-jews-during-wwii-report/
