The Baltic and Northern Countries Discussed Whether They Are Threatened by a Russian Attack and How Soon

“The key topics of the meeting in Helsinki were the current military-political situation in Russia, support for Ukraine, events in China, and relations between China and Taiwan, as well as Finland's vision for strengthening European security,” wrote Mihkelson on social media. “Despite the relevance of all these topics and the high professionalism of the reports presented to us, it was particularly interesting to receive information from Finnish military intelligence about the location and actions of the Russian armed forces in close proximity to our borders.”

“Finland's military intelligence chief, Brigadier General Pekka Turunen, provided us with a comprehensive and detailed overview. It is pleasing to note the very close cooperation between the Estonian and Finnish intelligence services. Therefore, our analysis and assessments of what is happening beyond the eastern border completely coincide. In short: in the foreseeable future, Russia does not pose a military threat to us; however, its activities aimed at exerting influence, interference in internal affairs to polarize society, and sabotage attacks against Western countries are likely to increase,” summarized Mihkelson.

“By the way, Helsinki is the only capital in the world that has a map of an underground city. The network of tunnels under Helsinki, built during the Cold War and today often used for parking, is indeed impressive. We had the opportunity to see it when we were heading to a secret briefing in one of the underground shelters,” wrote Mihkelson in his post.

The current meeting of the chairs of the foreign affairs committees of the Northern and Baltic countries in Helsinki was the 43rd of its kind. Since the summer of 2003, they have been held twice a year. The next host will be Latvia.