May 11, 2017
In
countering Russian non-linear warfare and so-called “hybrid operations”,
the identification and publication of Kremlin-linked networks of
influence is an essential act for every country with a potentially high level
of FSB (and KGB) penetration in its society and government.
As mentioned
before in my articles about lustration in general, use of “kompromat” and finlandization, Finland has not taken
the problem too seriously despite some positive developments, such as
establishing the EU-NATO Centre for countering hybrid threats. The shadow of the
Cold War era “finlandization” is still very long, as many politicians and
officials (or their “heirs”) with careers that were supported by the KGB,
remain power. This influences not only the security situation and openness in
Finland but also of the whole western community, especially the European Union.
It led even be said that the lack of lustration in Finland is partially responsible
for the delicate security environment we’re now facing all over the Baltic Sea
region.
KGB as a platform
of making careers
After World War
II, Finland remained a non-socialist country but the price of relatively
significant political and economic autonomy was to maintain good relations with
the Moscow. This soon became a platform for political games. Acceptance, and in
many cases, clear support from Moscow was needed to further one’s career and
the networks of influence spread like mushrooms in a Belarusian forests after
the Chernobyl nuclear accident – which, by the way was widely ignored by then
Soviet-loyal president of Finland Mauno Koivisto. Both Koivisto and his
party comrade, a “confidential” contact of the CPSU, prime minister Kalevi
Sorsa, “kept up the relations through the party line”. This was a euphemism
used when contact with KGB officers was constant.
As part of the
generation of political secretaries and advisors who served during President
Urho Kekkonen’s tenure, Koivisto and Sorsa grew up in an environment when this
kind of collaboration was normal – yet the depth of it varied depending on the
party, generation and of course one’s position. Based of Vasily Mitrokhin’s
extensive KGB archives, Sorsa can be evaluated as the favourite of the Soviets. Later,
President Tarja Halonen as well as later prime minister and Nord Stream
lobbyist Paavo Lipponen also worked as his secretary.
The political
neutrality of the Finnish Security Police can be read into from a memo written about Seppo Nevala, who was chosen to
fill the role of deputy chief of the organization from 1978 and as chief
1996-2007. In the memo, Nevala is described as a man whose use of alcohol and
penchant for pompous situations could cause problems in some circumstances. He
was named to hold the post despite the fact that he was also mentioned to be
formally incompetent – yet he had good relations with Sorsa, whom he had worked
for a relatively long time.
Chief of the KGB
department for assassinations, Viktor Vladimirov wrote in his memoirs “Näin
se oli… Muistelmia ja havaintoja kulissientakaisesta diplomaattitoiminnasta
Suomessa 1954–1984” (1993) that young social democrats were even closer
friends with the Soviets than the Finnish communists. Yet Vladimirov is an
unreliable source, it is clear that even the top political elite met with him
regularly as well as some other Eastern bloc intelligence officers. The Finnish
Security Police and political elite seemed to have accepted “the assassination
boss” in Helsinki; why, and what he used Finland for is still quite largely
unknown history.
Historical
connections between the Soviet Union and Finland’s modern political leadership
You never forget
your first love
One of the most
influential left-wing radicals to have climbed to the top of Finland’s
political elite is Social Democrat Erkki Tuomioja, who leaked the so-called
Zavidovo memo to the media in February 1972. It is widely accepted that the
purpose of the leak was to damage, and if possible, stop the Finnish-EEC
association process – something the Kremlin-loyalist forces in Ukraine tried to
do, with success, in 2013 in their own country.
Last week Olli
Ainola claimed in an article in Iltalehti, that Tuomioja – who
now holds a seat in parliamentary committee of foreign affairs – has formed an
opposition group in Parliament to counter the foreign policies supported by
president Sauli Niinistö.
After the war in
Ukraine escalated, then Minister of Foreign Affairs Tuomioja, questioned the
implementation of sanctions established by the European Union. Since the
collapse of the Soviet Union, he has been one of the most outspoken voices
against Finnish membership in NATO. He has also openly admitted meeting with
his KGB contacts during this time. According to journalist Olli Ainola, the
role of Tuomioja and then-president Halonen was essential in making the work of Finnish military
intelligence more challenging.
One of the less-known,
yet influential young left-wing radicals from that same era is Ilkka-Christian
Björklund, who started his career in SKDL (which was the electoral cover
organization of the Finnish communists) and later became a member of the Social
Democrats. In Tuomioja’s diaries of 1995-1997, called “Luulin olevani aika
piruileva” (2016), he indicates that he was worried about
whether Björklund could get a job anywhere. This happened as soon as
Björklund was hired to work for Social Democratic minister Antti Kalliomäki and
later to held the post of deputy mayor of Helsinki (Tuomioja himself had left
from a similar position 9 years before). Yet Björklund has shown exceptional
openness towards Finnish membership in NATO during recent years, yet he seems
to have had a close relationship with Mr. Tuomioja – at least in the 1990’s.
In the light of
archival material and other sources it seems Ilkka-Christian Björklund can be
associated with an East German intelligence service contact operation called
“Fortuna” (1968-1977), which includes four work files and about 1200 pages.
According to
Björklund, after returning from his job in Copenhagen to Finland in 1987, he
continued to communicate with DDR officials. According to archives, “Fortuna”
delivered the new defence plan draft of the Danish Social Democrats to a Stasi official and reported about the
meetings of the Socialist International that had taken place. The KGB tried to
turn SI to serve its goals and also used the services of Kalevi Sorsa, who
headed the committee responsible of disarmament of the organization.
Western
institutions under attack
Finland has been
one of the key states that the Eastern intelligence services have hoped to
damage, including the western institutions to which it belongs or is affiliated
with. Many Finns have more or less accepted this – some for ideological
reasons, others because they believe that appeasement, paradoxically, enhances
state sovereignty. The actions of Finnish socialists in the SI of the Nordic
council, their politicians in the European Union and willingness to let a
Soviet assassination chief work in Helsinki can all be understood from this
point of view.
Finland was
enthusiastic about European Union policy in the early 2000’s. Yet those were
times when some even speculated about a bright new and western future for
Russia. It soon proved to be a utopia, yet the goal of integrating Russia
and the EU was still promoted by many Finnish politicians years later. The Nord
Stream consulting post of former prime minister Paavo Lipponen and the dream of
him heading the European Commission can be seen as the most clear examples of
this. Also the new party secretary of the Social Democrats, Antton Rönnholm,
has worked for Lipponen and Russian gas business.
Russia seeks not
only the destruction of western institutions, but also the subversion of
bilateral relations between nations and their leaders. The strategic
partnership between Finland and Estonia is essential from the point of view of
regional security. After all, the question of Baltic security has much broader
implications that reach beyond the immediate region; the entire western
security infrastructure and NATO depend on it.
Last week Olli
Ainola claimed in an article in Iltalehti, that Tuomioja – who
now holds a seat in parliamentary committee of foreign affairs – has formed an
opposition group in Parliament to counter the foreign policies supported by
president Sauli Niinistö. According to Ainola, these policies include a
relatively high level of commitment towards the security of the Baltic States.
Both Tuomioja and Niinistö denied the existence
of any significant disagreement between them. However, at least rhetorically,
you can spot differences. Although 1/4 Estonian (his grandmother was famous
native-Estonian KGB agent Ella Murrik/Hella Wuolijoki, Tuomioja has actively
criticised the Estonia’s foreign policy. In stark contrast, when Estonian
President, Kersti Kaljulaid, paid her first visit to Finland as president,
Niinistö described Finland and Estonia as
siblings.
Yet it is
completely possible, and even likely, that sources used by Ainola may have
disinformed him on this exact issue in efforts to damage Finnish-Estonian
relations. We can’t ignore the fact that such claims are not as dangerous when
there is no record of questionable motives and acts from the past. Therefore,
vetting the KGB networks in Finland and other countries in the former Soviet
sphere of influence, is not only a national matter but affects the future of
whole free world.
Pekka Virkki
