Foreign relations of Finland: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:11, 20 July 2006

Revision as of 20:39, 21 July 2006

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{{Politics of Finland}}

'''[[Finland]]’s [[foreign policy]]''' is based on the membership of the [[European Union]] with its customs union, military non-alliance, and neutrality. Finland is also in the [[Nordic Council]], and has long traditions of co-operation with the Nordic Countries. Finland has good relations with all its neighbors, [[Sweden]], [[Norway]], [[Russia]] and [[Estonia]], and is not involved in international conflicts or border disputes. The military doctrine is strictly self-defensive, and indeed, the [[Constitution of Finland]] allows participation only in military operations authorized by the [[United Nations|UN]] or the [[OSCE]], and the. publicPublic opinion is against joining any military alliances, such as [[NATO]], although Finland is involved in the [[Partnership for Peace]] program with NATO. Foreign trade is highly important, as about a third of the [[gross domestic product]] comes from foreign trade, and Finland depends on imports for most raw materials.

From the end of the [[Continuation War]] with the [[Soviet Union|U.S.S.R.]] in 1944 until 1991, the policy was to avoid [[superpower]] conflicts and to build mutual confidence with the Western powers and the Soviet Union. Although the country was culturally, socially, and politically [[Western civilization|Western]], Finns realized they must live in peace with the U.S.S.R. and take no action that might be interpreted as a security threat. The [[collapse of the Soviet Union]] in 1991 opened up dramatic new possibilities for Finland and has resulted in the Finns actively seeking greater participation in Western political and economic structures.