HELSINKI (AP) — The charming bed-and-breakfast’s selling points are its century-old buildings, its rooms and its proximity to Russia, a short cross-country ski trip to the east.
It was a place for the Russians to stay when they bought goods and soap in the closest part of the European Union, which became part of NATO. on Tuesday In fact, Finns with roots in the Karelia region, which covers parts of both Finland and Russia, could cross the border to buy gas and car parts and was the site of clashes between Finnish forces and the Soviet Red Army in World War II.
The Kuuksenkaari bed-and-breakfast deal was briefly interrupted on Tuesday morning when owners Eija Hiltunen and Eero Tuomisto argued about the need for peace and quiet. The conjunction of Finland At NATO, the Finnish flag was raised alongside 30 others in Brussels.
For Eija Hiltunen, who moved to the North Karelia region with her husband more than a decade ago, Finland was becoming part of the world’s largest security society. The exasperation was unnecessary.
“For the past fifteen and twenty years, they were quiet here at the border. It is easy to cross the border and there was a lot of cross-border activity,” said Hiltunen.
Her husband, a journalist from Helsinki, of secret affairs, was a strong supporter of the country joining NATO.
“I think I feel a little safer now,” said Tuomisto, whose grandfather fought against the Soviet Red Army in the country during World War II. “There is no doubt anymore. The previous crisis (World War II) is not far behind us. You can look around here. No one has forgotten our history with Russia.
Their area, Ilomantsi, on the eastern route of the EU, has several museums dedicated to memorabilia and battles that the Finns fought against the Soviet Union.
Finland shares a 1,340-mile (832-mile) border with Russia, the entrance to which will have a larger size than NATO’s border with Russia. Although the company says that there is no threat to Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that it would be “forced to move to military-technical and other retaliatory measures” that marked “fundamental changes in the situation in Northern Europe, which had previously been one of the most stable countries in the world.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also pointed out on Tuesday that Russia has no territorial disputes with Finland.
In Finland, Hiltunen revealed that his distance from the capital city of about 485 kilometers (300 miles) was affected by his feelings about joining NATO.
“I would be very happy about NATO membership if I lived in Helsinki,” said Hiltunen, who moved from the city of Ilomantsi 14 years ago. “But when you live here on the eastern border between NATO and Russia… you think and it makes different thoughts and feelings in your mind.”
NATO flags were raised alongside national flags in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a building originally built for the military of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Curious people could be seen around the gates of the foreign ministry.
Aki Luhtanen, a professor of psychiatric nursing, who was among those who stayed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Russia’s war in Ukraine is very much over and that NATO membership offers protection now and for a long time.
“I think we should feel and fear Russia,” Luhtanen said. “And in the future I think it’s very important to belong to NATO.”
It was in the same building that the Finnish authorities displayed the colors of the Ukrainian flag a year after the invasion of Russia, in the first sign of Kyiv’s strong support.
Newspapers, leaders and commentators alike agreed that Tuesday was a historic day for the Nordic nation of 5.5 million people.
“So far we have only defended the country,” Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen told YLE radio station about the arrival of Brussels. “From now on, we can count on getting extra help if things get tough. And of course we are ready to help if someone is in trouble.
The Brussels survey falls on the 74th anniversary of the signing of the NATO founding Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949.
The website of the Finnish parliament was briefly paralyzed on Tuesday in a denial-of-service attack. The attacks – in which participants flooded targets with junk data – made the council’s website difficult to use, with many pages not loading and some functions unavailable. It is seen by cyber experts as a way to get attention.
A pro-Russian hacking group known as NoName057 (16) claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in retaliation for Finland joining NATO. The hacker group has been involved in deadly cyberattacks on the US and its allies in the past. His claim could not be immediately verified.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s personal website was also briefly down due to a denial-of-service attack, Finnish news agency STT said.
