Finnish foreign policy towards NATO and Russia

Abstract

The research deals with the issue of Finnish foreign policy towards NATO and Russia, as Finland is one of the most important economic and political partners of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics since the second half of the twentieth century, It has taken the policy of neutrality as its basic principle, but due to the expansion of NATO in the east and its impact on the transformation of the Finnish defense strategy, it has used its partnership with NATO strategically to promote national security interests, especially after joining the alliance, The importance of the research lies in the fact that Finland is the only country in Western Europe, which was under pressure from the Soviet Union, But despite that, this small country, even by European standards, retained its sovereignty in determining its domestic and foreign policy. Until relatively recently, Finland was just a small northern country that did not actively participate in international relations, until a change occurred in its foreign policy by joining the Alliance. NATO. The research included three sections as well as an introduction and a conclusion. The first section dealt with the historical development of Finnish foreign policy, and it was divided into two sections. towards NATO, while the third topic dealt with Finnish foreign policy towards Russia