THE WINNER It is suddenly difficult to find a person on the streets of Vyborg who has a bad word to say about Finns.
– An excellent country, we treat Finns and Finland with goodwill, Antonina Gorak says on the edge of Viipur’s market.
In the same breath, he notes the cooling of the countries’ relations.
– Now that’s the situation, there’s nothing you can do about it.
The visa restrictions or Finland’s aspiration to become a NATO member have not changed Gorak’s attitude towards Finland, but he considers the current situation sad.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted relations between Finland and Russia, which is also reflected in the Levada research institute of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the landscape survey (you will switch to another service).
In last year’s survey, 68 percent of Russians of legal age viewed Finland positively. Now the number of those with a positive attitude has dropped to 51 percent.
Last year, there were five percent of those who decided to settle in Finland negatively. This year, the figure had risen to 22 percent.
A more positive image in northwestern Russia
The survey concerning the whole of Russia was conducted in July. Therefore, Finland’s NATO efforts and their treatment in the Russian media are reflected in the national figures.
In northwestern Russia, the research was conducted in August–September. These numbers already reflect the tightening of visa practices implemented by Finland in the fall.
In northwestern Russia, 71 percent of respondents still had a positive attitude towards Finland. Last year, the figure was no less than 89 percent.
Many of Ylen’s interviewees in Viipur make a distinction between politics and everyday life.
Recently moved to Vyborg Bella Kolkova says that he has many friends in Finland, he has traveled in the country and tried to study the language.
Kolkova says that the visa restrictions will not change her relationship with Finland.
– I think and hope that it is temporary. When the situation calms down, I hope that after some time everything will be the same and we will travel as before, he says.
NATO was seen as a spoiler
According to the survey, 46 percent of Russians consider relations between Finland and Russia to be strained, while last year only 16 percent of the respondents thought so.
54 percent of the respondents considered Finland’s NATO membership to be the biggest threat to the countries’ relations. On the other hand, in Russia as a whole, only 63 percent even knew about Finland’s intentions to join NATO.
NATO also arouses suspicion and criticism in Vyborg.
In Slavic the man who introduces himself says that he is a former soldier and says that he has a normal relationship with Finland. He regrets the NATO effort.
– You just join NATO in vain, Slava says and warns that NATO will force Finland to place nuclear weapons in Finland. Then things are bad, he says.
– Finland took this step for nothing, when our relations were excellent, both working and trade relations.
Slava says that if NATO doesn’t completely ruin relations, the abruptly severed relations will still be repaired. According to him, the Russians do not want war – they remember well the previous war with Finland.
from St. Petersburg who was visiting Vyborg Yegor Markov think it’s a shame that travel is restricted. Finland’s NATO membership does not faze him.
– If Estonians can join NATO, why not Finns. It doesn’t matter to me at all. I don’t see anything bad in that, says Markov.
Entrepreneurs in Vyborg are suffering
In front of the mall Dodar Nazimov says that relations with Finns are normal, warm. He says that the visa restrictions imposed by Finland do not affect his views on the country.
– Politics is politics, and people live as they have lived before. I believe things will be resolved. Life goes on, it can’t be otherwise, says Nazimov from Tajikistan.
Nazimov has not been to Finland himself, but says that he has many acquaintances in Finland. He says he has only heard good things about the country.
– All good from Finland, he says in Finnish.
Also an entrepreneur Gulnara Shadiyeva hopes that Finns would continue to come to Vyborg. In his shop, he sells products from Uzbekistan.
– Keep coming, don’t be afraid, he says.
“The situation seems absurd”
At the Vyborg railway station, a large sign advertises a residential area called Malaya Finljandija, or Little Finland.
The picture reflects the positive images associated with Finland: a group of neat-looking apartment buildings stand in the lake landscape.
– This is reflected on both sides of the border, because in fact small businesses suffer from this entire geopolitical situation, Vyborg Alexei Nosov says.
He says that his parents have a shop in the market square. They make handicraft products for Finnish tourists, and tourists from Moscow and St. Petersburg are not ready to pay similar prices. This is a blow to the practitioners of traditional handicrafts.
Nosov says that people are watching the current situation like a strange movie in which they are forced to play a strange role. He says that he has an Inger friend in Lahti.
– Before, we were constantly in touch, we traveled to each other’s places. Now we are banned from traveling to Finland. It seems absurd, says Nosov.
However, he believes that the neighborly friendships between the residents of Vyborg and the Finns can withstand the current dawn.
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