During the publication event of her biography, the former Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, stated that she refused to actively advance the Ukrainian NATO membership because there was an example of a successful, non-aligned Russian neighbor in Europe. The country was Finland, widely recognized for her staunch support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion in February 2022.However, this is not the whole story.Certainly, soon after the invasion, Helsinki decided to join NATO—breaking the tradition of a bilateral »special relationship« with Russia, originally stemming from a traumatic Cold War history of forced appeasement. During the Soviet era, Finland had been treated by the KGB as an »experimental laboratory« for different forms of political, economic, military, intelligence, and informational coercion.Not only did the Soviets learn and test new strategies. Especially after the collapse of the USSR, Finland and Finnish »friends« were used to promote Russian strategic interests within the European Union. The roots of »Schröderization«, the Nord Stream pipeline, and the EU citizenship of Vladimir Putin’s closest oligarchs can be traced to Helsinki.During the era of transatlantic turmoil and new power politics, it is essential to understand the depth and methods of the Russian influence activities in Europe. This book illustrates them holistically by focusing on the Finnish example, not forgetting wider geopolitical contextualization, e.g. implications for Ukraine, debate on European strategic autonomy, and continental memory politics.
