In Armenia, a taxi driver knows how to praise Finland for two things, its high-quality liquor and its success in World War II. The more educated also praises Finns for their level of education.
Six months ago, everything changed overnight. In the taxi, I no longer wanted to start a conversation by saying I’m Finnish. As soon as Finland announced that it was applying for NATO, the local taxi driver shouted furiously “Why do you want to attack Russia?”. The Kremlin’s propaganda had been bitten.
Finns should not slip into pawns in Putin’s information war.
Are we Finns? in this respect, better than Armenians – are we even immune to propaganda? How do false stereotypes arise in Finland?
More than a million people have watched the former intelligence officer Martti J. Karin the online lecture, according to which the starting point of Russian governance has been tactical lying for the past thousand years. Kari extends his theory to the level of people’s character and claims that lying is also embedded in the Russian language, where even the word for lie “vranjo” would mean tactical truth, i.e. a lie agreed upon together. According to Kari, for Finns the truth is black and white, for Russians it has 48 shades of gray.
One of my Finnish journalist colleagues was delighted by the lecture and said that it explained the brutal attack on Ukraine. That’s when I became interested in rhetoric. I checked the word “vranjo” with several Finnish and Russian language experts. For Russians, vranjo is clearly a lie, not a half-truth.
Another authoritative sourcewho has been quoted often, is the president Sauli Niinistö. Almost a decade ago in speech (you switch to another service) at the opening of the national defense course, he uses the old saying “Cossack takes what is badly caught”. I don’t know exactly what Niinistö means, but Russophobically the saying is quoted.
Few can manage to familiarize themselves with the context. Hands up, how many know what a Cossack is? Cossacks (you switch to another service) are not the same as the Russian people, according to the census they are less than one percent of the population. At different stages of history, this often paramilitary group consisting of many nationalities has been either on the side of the Russian regime or against it. However, Putin is not a Cossack.
The people and the government are getting confused in our minds.
Why do such interpretations spread in Finns’ conversations? Does collective blaming help to withstand the brutality flooding from the media? In that game, the world view can be badly distorted. The people and the government are getting confused in our minds.
Researcher at the University of Jyväskylä Simo Mikkonen considers the current attitude development to be worrying. Arguments related to the Russians, which are highly emotional, undermine the facts. Russians are an important professional group for Finland, which is also well integrated.
On the Internet, one can see comments “Why Russians don’t oppose the war” that are sharper than the other. The facts are clear. If the door of the cage swings open for up to ten years for opposing the war, few family members can exercise their freedom of opinion. The situation is as intolerable for an active citizen as it is in Iran or North Korea.
I lived in Russia in the 90s and I traveled there dozens of times for 15 years as a documentarian and to visit friends.
Here in Yerevan, I have interviewed young people who left Russia. They are anything but brainwashed. I ask Nastja, who escaped from Novosibirsk, what information she bases her anti-war stance on. The Kremlin has not been able to completely take over the popular Telegram service, and news from the free media can be obtained by following bloggers. I also interviewed coder brothers who had run away from drafts from the Urals. They didn’t see any point in going on “Putin’s ego trip to kill” either. About a million Russians (you switch to another service) has already left his country for these reasons.
The stigmatization of all Russians not only dumbs us down but creates a dehumanizing enemy image that also undermines national security. I talked to the current ambassador of the South Caucasus, who worked as a diplomat in Russia Kirsti Narinen with recently. He summed this up nicely “the nation becomes weaker if it seeks unity through hatred”.
Finns should not slip into pawns in Putin’s information war. When we bark at the Russians, we play into Putin’s pocket. It also polarizes Finns. Chief of the Security Police Antti Pelttari pointed out (you are moving to another service) recently: “If our mutual trust erodes, we are more vulnerable to external influence. Extremist movements draw on confrontation.”
I was reminded that nations are not one-size-fits-all masses when I got lost in the barn of a local station wagon in Armenia. No electricity, no internet. The sow had just given birth to 12 piglets and the first snow had fallen on the tops of the surrounding mountains.
The host offered coffee and asked “Where are you from?”. As a Lätkä fan, he knew Finland well and said in Russian: “Finski – ani spakoini”. I proudly confirmed his assessment. Yes, we Finns are peace-loving!
Aram Aflatuni
The author is a media producer and peace educator who has lived and worked in Russia. His best travel experience is taking a sauna in Siberia in a logging village of Finnish-born Komi.
The column can be discussed on 11.1. until 23:00.