So far, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by the West do not seem to have affected the people of St. Petersburg’s positive attitude towards Finland.
PETER The attitude of the people of St. Petersburg towards the Finns does not seem to have received major knocks on the basis of a narrow street gallery.
Last week, asked ten people in St. Petersburg for ideas about Finland. Based on the answers, Finland is treated either neutrally or positively.
– My own attitude towards Finland or the West has not changed at all. Of course, I would not want sanctions or other restrictions. They just hit ordinary people, says a middle-aged person pretending to be just a first name Valeri.
Also from St. Petersburg Tatiana Atamanenko says that he is still warm to Finns and has just applied for a visa to travel to Finland.
– Finland is part of the European Union and your government has the right to support sanctions. Still, I don’t think the EU can achieve its goal, but sanctions are useless, Atamenko says.
A survey commissioned by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs said in November that Russians were very positive about Finland and that the popularity of Finns was growing. According to the survey, 89 per cent of respondents in St. Petersburg, Finland, thought positively.
St. Petersburg does not condemn Finland’s NATO membership
In St. Petersburg, also asked about feelings about Finland’s possible membership in the military alliance NATO.
– You must be scared. We remember the war between Finland and the Soviet Union, and that anything can happen. That is why I do not condemn, but it is the choice of the Finnish people, introduced by a mere first name Constantine says.
Of St. Petersburg Sergei Leskovin In his opinion, joining NATO would not significantly change the attitude of Russians towards Finland. According to Leskov, this is due to the fact that the average Russian does not even know whether Finland currently belongs to the military alliance.
Instead, Leskov believes NATO membership would further strain relations at the political level.
– We have a common border and then there would be no buffer anymore. This would be interpreted as a direct challenge or a collision, Leskov estimates.
The Russian leadership has repeatedly warned that Finland’s NATO membership will lead to retaliation. However, it does not specify what these actions might be.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that Russia would have to “balance the situation” with its own actions if Finland and Sweden became members of the military alliance.