Finland’s journey to join NATO

(Mains GS 2 : Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora.)

Context:

• Recently, Finland finally became the 31st country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

About NATO:

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 31 member states – 29 European and two North American.
• Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.
• NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties.
• During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the perceived threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa.
• NATO's main headquarters are located in Brussels, Belgium, while NATO's military headquarters are near Mons, Belgium.

Security policy:

• Finland’s experience during the Cold War shaped its approach to security policy. 
• Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it sought to build closer ties with Russia while also pursuing greater integration with Europe. 
• The country has been an active participant in European security initiatives such as the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO). 
• At the same time, it has been able to maintain close economic ties with Russia. However, there were tensions between Finland and Russia as a result of the flux in domestic politics in both countries. 
• For instance, Nikita Khrushchev was willing to negotiate with Finland and allowed for increased trade and cultural exchange between the two countries, despite the 1950s seeing Finland side with the West when the Soviet Union called for a boycott of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Australia.

Ralationship to watch:

• The continuation of the Ukraine invasion, a declining Russian might, and now a confirmed security umbrella by NATO gives the impression that Finland’s security concerns are mostly assuaged. 
• The extent to which this new cooperation between the Finns and the NATO countries pan out will dictate Russia’s actions, but it seems that Moscow, under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, might wish to further escalate by increasing troop presence along the Russo-Finnish border.

Challenging for India

• India is in a difficult position as on the one hand, there is the growing relationship with the United States and on the other hand, there is Russia with whom we have a long-standing history of friendship.
• India-U.S. relations have never been in a better position than today especially in the defence sector and much is also made of the famous Quad (India, the United States, Australia and Japan) which is to contain China.
• However, Russia is still our principal source of military hardware and is willing, more than other countries, to share the technology involved.
• Russia has also helped us out in the United Nations on many occasions and one can hardly forget how they stalled action in the UN for several days at the time of the 1971 Bangladesh war to enable India to ‘finish the job’. 

Conclusion:

• Under the circumstances, the Government had done well by maintaining a kind of neutral position by demonstrating the classical Nehruvian policy of non-alignment.