Posted on 02/26/2025 2:40:54 PM PST by dennisw
In April 2023, Finland became the 31st member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, aligning itself with the United States, ending generations of Finnish military neutrality between the West and Russia.
The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 provoked the move. The Finnish capital of Helsinki is just 200 miles from St. Petersburg. With under six million people, Finland would have little chance of stopping Russian aggression alone.
The threat isn’t idle. Russia has invaded Finland before, in November 1939. That attack can’t be excused as part of Russia’s defense against Nazi Germany. At the time, the Nazis and Stalin were allies dividing Eastern Europe.
The Finns know the Russians. And whatever you think about Ukraine’s corruption and oligarchs, Finland is a modern, free democracy. It hopes to stay that way.
So when this email about Donald Trump’s embrace of Vladimir Putin arrived unsolicited from a Finnish reader1, I thought it was worth sharing, in full and unedited. A lot of good people are very worried. ............................................
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Hi Alex,
Domestically, President Trump may be doing exactly what he was voted to accomplish. I have no take on it, naturally, not being an American. But internationally, is he singlehandedly rewriting the US foreign policy?
I used to consider the US our (and Europe's, and NATO’s and Canada's) friend, and Russia our common foe. Now it seems both are our foes. The narrative seems to tell that Trump and Putin have already divided the world into spheres of interest, and well, Eastern if not all of Europe is soon under another Warsaw Pact...
Having enjoyed your writing and political backdrop views over many years, both inside book covers and in other media, what is your take on all this? And do you and the American people believe Russia is as of this month no longer your enemy?
Has Trump simply decided Putin will offer him a better deal than Ukraine and to hell with the rest? Or is he simply being deceived? Does he buy Putin's lines (read: lies) because he admires the man so much? Or does Putin have Trump so deeply in his pocket that he does whatever he is told to do?
Or is it the exact opposite, and Trump is double- and triple-crossing Putin to ultimately push the Russians to step over a line and then be put firmly back in their place? Or have the two simply come to align on an anti-China stand, for Trump to have an ace up his sleeve against Xi and Putin trying to crawl out from underling position vs Xi?
I am not trying to offend any fans of Trump's politics, I am simply trying to make sense of the tectonic shift in who is an ally to whom and who considers whom a threat?
BR
Heikki
PS. My view: never even think of trusting a Russian politician. Full stop.
Did not know that. Odd bunch. P-40s and Bf-109s and Brewster Buffalos in the same Air Force.
And oddly, the Finns had fantastic success with the Brewster and loved it. I was reading that Pappy Boyington said it was a really sweet ship when he first flew it. But the Navy loaded it down with weight. Then they and the Brits sent it to combat against KI-43s, Zeroes and Type 96 Mitsubishis. Nothing could out turn those!
So it got a bad reputation. But the Finns didn’t get the word.
Finns.... no need to dislike them. But they are odd and different and not a roadmap.
They also survived the Cold War intact, had major trade relations with and investments from Russia (including a daily train between Helsinki to Moscow) as well as a demilitarized shared border for over 70 years.
They should have stayed independent and neutral.
You fail to realize the loss of individual freedom is the loss of a country. Your attitude will only keep your head buried in the sand until the problem becomes to big to solve without massive death. Something Europe has done repeatedly in the 20th century and America is tired of dealing with.
I listed several BIG impactful events that have not been limited to a single person. There are A LOT more and you have offered no facts in rebuttal.
If I went to Germany and posted a negative meme against the government I would be arrested, WTH would I go there anymore to get any kind of perspective? Your assertion basically is I need to go risk my very freedom to see your point of view, yet you are not giving me any assurance that I would not be locked up for exercise basic human rights like freedom of speech.
You can tell a Fin, just cant tell him much.
Dont ever hit a Fin on the head. Youll hurt your hand.
The Finns should be more worried about the fascists in Brussels. They’re encouraged Muslim pigs to rape little girls. Russia isn’t doing that.
Don't be a jackass. That was an asinine thing to say. What is wrong with you?
WTF is your problem, spouting douchebag opinions like that?
Just shooting back at you anti-foreign bigots of course.
Why not? Turnabout is fair play.
He should be concerned about jackasses on this forum who are suggesting that Finns in this country should be hunted down and murdered because they might embrace opinions we disagree with like that poster above.
I HAVE done exactly that, at the time Merkel was shutting down nuke plants. I called the CDU moronic. I was in Dusseldorf a month later.
“Finns in this country should be hunted down and murdered because they might embrace opinions we disagree with”
Shouldn’t they (US-Finns) be afraid? Your friends have expressed far worse things to me for being a foreigner.
Admit the character flaws in your friends, why don’t you?
Oh, yeah. Because some anonymous Finn is embracing a Leftist anti-Trump meme spouted by Leftist turds like you, that makes someone an anti-foreign bigot?
You are one of the stupid pieces of crap who make any thread on this forum about Ukraine unreadable with your childish stupidity.
Go peddle it somewhere else, you running stain of a human being.
And yet here we have Germany proudly bragging about arresting people for daring to speak out. They do so gleefully.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/germany-online-hate-speech-prosecution-60-minutes/
What are you afraid of, Denny? That peace might breakout and the defense industry might not need as much taxpayer money?
My, a bit of an opposing opinion and you get like that.
Perhaps you might consider engaging, instead of going off the deep end just because there is disagreement.
They sided with Germany to get rid of Russia. They chose which devil they wanted to control them.
Finland was not too happy about that situation btw.
It had to wait on “economic takeoff” until perestroika.
The USSR insisted on policies that were an economic wet blanket to Finland.
This is a typical Russian POV btw, not bothering about what the other guy thinks.
I spent three weeks in a Finnish city called Jväskylä last summer. They pretty much played 70s US music everywhere. It was like a time warp back in time. Quite wonderful. They like Americans. If I go back this year I am curious how the conversations will go. I told them I think it may be a mistake that they joined NATO
Veritas
For a few years there, until the Finns closed the Russian border, the Russians were helping “migrants” get there and try to sneak in. The Poland-Belorussia situation. I.e., the Russians were trying to sneak Muslim rape gangs into Finland.
I have spent a bit of time in Finland and have put forth a lot of effort to learn their language and understand their country. I think they may regret having joined NATO.
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