The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that it would expel nine Finnish diplomats. Russia justifies its deportation decision in response to the policy of the Finnish authorities.
Intelligence history researcher Mikko Porvali estimates that the measures announced by Russia on Thursday for Finland are historically very rare. However, Russia’s diplomatic activity in relation to other European countries has been in the same line, so in this light, according to Porval, the solution was not at all exceptional.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia announced on Thursday that he will expel nine Finnish diplomats. Russia justifies its deportation decision in response to the policy of the Finnish authorities.
The State Council announced at the beginning of June that Finland will deport nine people working in the Russian embassy, because they have worked in intelligence tasks.
Porvali says that Russia’s decision regarding the diplomats was expected due to Finland’s previous deportation decisions. According to Porval, Russia has typically had a habit of responding to decisions like this. At that time, he served as foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (green) stated that Finland had been prepared for Russia’s countermeasures.
Russia has also decided to withdraw its consent to the operation of the Finnish Consulate General in St. Petersburg as of October 1. In practice, the consulate general would therefore be closed. On the other hand, according to Porval, closing the consulate general is not a reciprocal measure like diplomatic expulsions.
A serious measure and a message to NATO-Finland
Porvali considers closing the consulate a serious measure in the diplomatic world. According to him, the countermeasure is clearly excessive and, according to him, it is clearly intended to send some kind of message to Finland.
– Certainly, that message in one way or another is related to, for example, the changes that have taken place in Finland’s security environment and our recent alliance, Porvali states.
– It is clearly excessive compared to what Finland has done in the past, at least publicly, in this matter, he says.
Also the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö considered Russia’s measures to be asymmetrical.
However, Porvali reminds us that various actions and their countermeasures are, so to speak, the language of diplomacy in both directions.
– It is one form of communication at the state foreign policy level, he describes.
Very rare for Finland, more common in the European context
Although Russia’s recent measures against Finland are rare, Russia has, for example, expelled numerous diplomats during its war of aggression in Ukraine.
– In practice, these expulsions have been carried out reciprocally from almost all European countries. Although this is historically very rare for Finland, in that sense this does not differ from the kind of diplomatic relations Russia currently has with other European states, says Porvali.
The closure of the consulate general will make it difficult to obtain visas, among other things. At the moment, however, quite a few people travel to Russia, which is why the effects of closing the consulate are not as great as they might have been before the war of aggression.
– In this world political situation, that meaning is less than it would be in some other situation, Porvali describes.
President Niinistö reacted to Russia’s measures by referring, among other things, to the fact that the counterpart of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg in Finland is the Russian Consulate General in Turku. Therefore, the Russian consulate general can also be closed in Finland, which could cause its services to become congested. However, quite a few people travel from Finland to Russia at the moment.