Karelian question in Finnish politics

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Areas ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union. Porkkala was returned to Finland in 1956.
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Areas ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union. Porkkala was returned to Finland in 1956.

The Karelian question or Karelian issue (in Finnish Karjala-kysymys) is a dispute on the fringes of Finnish politics over whether or not to try to regain sovereignty over the Finnish Karelia and other territories ceded to Russia in the Winter War and the Continuation War. Despite the name "Karelian question", the term may refer to the return of also Petsamo, ceded parts of Salla and Kuusamo and four islands of Gulf of Finland. Sometimes the term "Return discussion about the ceded territories" is used. The Karelian question remains only a matter of public debate rather than a political issue, since virtually no significant political party supports it nowadays.

Contents

[edit] History

The Karelian question arose when Finland was forced to cede territories to the Soviet Union after the Winter War in the Moscow peace treaty in 1940. All Finnish citizens were evacuated from the ceded areas. Most of them returned during the Continuation War and eventually were evacuated again in 1944. Because the vast majority of the evacuees who had to settle to the rest of Finland were from ceded Karelia, the question was labeled The Karelian Question. After the Winter War Karelian municipalities and parishes founded Karjalan Liitto to defend Karelians' rights.

During the Cold War, Johannes Virolainen was a politician who lobbied for the return of Karelia. President Urho Kekkonen also tried to reacquire the territory, especially when Finnish control of Porkkala was restored in 1956.[1] There was, however, no significant public controversy about the case, because Kekkonen wanted to keep it quiet.[2] The last time Kekkonen tried to raise it was in 1972, but he had no success, and public discussion died out in the 1970s.[3] After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Karelian question re-surfaced.

[edit] Today

Karjalan Liitto is an interest group of Karelian evacuees which hopes that Karelia could be returned some day, but has not openly demanded it. Some smaller groups, such as ProKarelia, continue to campaign for the peaceful return of Karelia. However, no notable political party has openly supported this goal and Finnish politicians generally say there is no need for it, citing Finland's peace treaty with Russia. There are some individual politicians who support returning Karelia, for example Ari Vatanen, and two candidates in presidential election of 2006 Timo Soini and Arto Lahti. Other candidates have stated that Finland has signed a peace treaty.[4]

[edit] Official opinions

Both countries have repeatedly stated that there isn't an open territorial issue between Russia and Finland. Finland's official stance is that the borders may be changed through peaceful negotiations, though there is currently no need for such negotiations as Russia have shown that it has no intention of returning or discussing the areas in question. In 1994 president Boris Yeltsin commented that "seizure of Finnish Karelia" was an example of Stalin's totalitarian and aggressive politics. Later in 1997 he stated that the matter is closed. In 2000 President Putin said that the discussion may endanger the relations, but in 2001 stated that "changing borders is not the best way to resolve problems" but solutions would be "integration and cooperation".[5]

Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari said in 1998 that "Finland's official position is that it does not have territorial demands on Russia. However, if Russia wants to discuss returning the ceded areas, Finland is ready for that."[6] Several other politicians holding government office, such as current foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja and prime minister Matti Vanhanen, have made statements along the same lines.[7][8]

[edit] Polls and popular opinion

The latest polls show that approximately 26 - 38% of Finns would like to see Karelia as a part of Finland again and some 51% - 62% not. In Russia, people associate the word "Karelia" with the Republic of Karelia instead of Finnish Karelia, which makes conducting polls more difficult. In a 1999 poll by MTV3, 34% of the people of Vyborg supported returning Karelia to Finland and 57% were opposed. Vyborg and the rest of the ceded Karelia nowadays contains very few ethnic Finns, and is mostly inhabited by people who moved there during the Soviet era.

In the latest poll about the question, 36% of Finns supported the return of ceded territories, compared to 51% who are opposed. The poll was conducted by the newspaper Karjala and the research institute MC-Info Oy (13th October 2005). In August 2005, in a poll by Helsingin Sanomat and Suomen Gallup, 30% supported and 62% opposed.[9] In a poll by Taloustutkimus and Karjalan Liitto done in May 2005, support was 26% while 58% were opposed.[10] A year earlier, a poll by STT showed 38% supporting and 57% opposing. A poll by Taloustutkimus was criticized by ProKarelia for asking leading questions, such as, "Do you support the return of Karelia, even if it would mean more tense relations or even war with Russia?"[11]5 % of supporters and of those who declined to respond supported the return if the situation were that (2.1 % of all replies).[12]

Many of the people who were born in Karelia and had to leave their homes want Karelia back. According to polls, older people (ages 65 and up) and young people (15-25) support the idea more strongly than the generation of their parents (25-65) who grew up during the Cold War.[9]Former President Mauno Koivisto has been against discussion about the question.[13] Support for regaining the ceded areas is also strong among minor nationalist right-wing groups.

[edit] Problems and arguments

[edit] Price

Blocks of flats built in the Soviet era in Svetogorsk (Enso)
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Blocks of flats built in the Soviet era in Svetogorsk (Enso)

One of the main reasons for opposing the return is the fear of the costs it would bring. According a poll conducted by Helsingin Sanomat 42 % of Finns opposing the return list that as the most important single reason for it. The standard of living on the Russian side of the border is much lower than on the Finnish side. The GDP (PPP) per capita in Finland is about 3 times as high as in Russia.

The costs of bringing Karelia to the same level with the rest of Finland has been researched only by supporters of the idea. According to a clearance conducted by ProKarelia the area has natural advantages that, under the Finnish rule, would make it a center of trade with Russia and industry and thus bring economic growth fast enough to solve the entire problem. According to both ProKarelian research and Arto Lahti's estimate the price of return has been some (short scale) 30 billion euros.[14][15][16]

[edit] Population

Many people live in houses that were built in the Finnish era before 1939. A picture from Sortavala.
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Many people live in houses that were built in the Finnish era before 1939. A picture from Sortavala.

The area is currently inhabited mostly by people that moved there from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and their descendants. The fate of those people is a major issue in the returning of Karelia. According to the poll by Helsingin Sanomat, 14% of people opposing the return consider its greatest flaw the tensions that would be caused by a Russian minority being formed in Finland. In 2004, there were about 370,000 Russians living in the region.[17]

Another solution would be to return Karelia empty of current citizens. However, forcing them to move from their homes to other parts of Russia would be against international law, and only a few extremists have shown interest in such a radical solution.

If the inhabitants were allowed to stay in their homes, Finland would receive some new Russian-speaking citizens with no experience of living in Finnish society. In order to provide services for them in their own language, Finland might need many officials capable of speaking Russian. In ProKarelia's vision, nearly half of the Russian population in Karelia would move to Russia, and even more would leave if Finland paid their costs.[14]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Supporting organizations

Information also available in English:

Finnish only:

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Kekkonen nosti Karjala-kysymyksen esiin 1968" (Kekkonen raised Karelia question in 1968) [1] (in Finnish)
  2. ^ Kekkonen kehottaa karjalaisia vaitioloon (Kekkonen suggest to be quiet) [2] (in Finnish)
  3. ^ The debate in Finland over the return of Karelia. Virtual Finland 2001. http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25907#deba
  4. ^ Diplomatic Diary. Presidential candidates meet the international press. Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland [3]
  5. ^ Sergei Prozorov: Border Regions and the Politics of EU-Russian Relations, p. 4. January 2004 [4], Helsingin Sanomat 9/5/2001 [5]
  6. ^ Martti Ahtisaari. In press meeting, Kuopio 30.7.1998.
  7. ^ Tuomioja's reply to Risto Kuisma's question in Eduskunta [6]
  8. ^ Matti Vanhanen in YLE's "Pääministerin haastattelutunti" (Interview of Prime Minister) in 21.11. 2004
  9. ^ a b HS-Gallup: Selvä enemmistö ei halua Karjalaa takaisin [7]
  10. ^ Karjalan Liitto and Taloustutkimus [8]
  11. ^ Eg. ProKarelia's article in 17.10.2005 [9]
  12. ^ Karjalan Liitto and Taloustutkimus, poll [10]
  13. ^ Koivisto halusi vaientaa kokonaan keskustelun Karjalan palauttamisesta. (Koivisto wanted to silence discussion about returning Karelia) STT-IA 23.1. 1998 [11] (in Finnish)
  14. ^ a b ProKarelia's Reform [12]
  15. ^ Karjalan palauttamisen lasketaan kannattavan [13]
  16. ^ Arto Lahti's lecture in Karjala seminar 23.8.2005 abridgement
  17. ^ Census in Russia 2004 [14]
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