With over 100 years of independence, Finnish society has many achievements to celebrate. As the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1906, it was the first place to introduce universal suffrage. Finland is one of the world’s most developed democracies.

After decades of enforced neutrality, Finland became a member of NATO in April last year, thereby almost doubling the Alliance’s land border with Russia. Helsinki's accession represents a radical change in Nordic and Baltic security. The country brings to NATO not only enormous combat potential and knowledge of Russia but also a strategic location.

The similarities between Ukraine’s war with Russia today and that experienced by Finland some eighty years ago are hard to ignore. While Moscow continues its attempts to stop Kyiv joining NATO, its aggression has only encouraged Helsinki to join the Alliance.

From the region’s perspective, the 1922 Warsaw Accord between Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland was a significant step in strengthening geopolitical interests and safeguarding against Russian aggression. Unfortunately, the agreement ultimately failed. This year’s ratification by Finland’s parliament of its application to join NATO can be seen as a final step in this process that began over 100 years ago.

The most promising and – to a certain degree – surprising declaration made by Finland on its interest in joining the NATO Alliance immediately reminded me of the so-called Warsaw Accord. This treaty was drafted 100 years ago on March 17th 1922 and embodied the initiative of a Baltic alliance between Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Poland. Anti-Soviet in nature, cooperation ultimately failed due to reservations expressed by Helsinki. In the summer of 1922 the Finnish parliament – Eduskunta – decided not to ratify the pact. A century later, on May 17th 2022, 188 out of 200 Finnish MPs voted on accession to NATO. The story has come full circle. A story which deserves to be told.

By invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin wanted to change Europe’s security architecture and stop the expansion of NATO. Instead, Sweden and Finland, traditionally non-aligned countries, are now considering to join the alliance. Their membership would have a major impact on the security of the Baltic states.