Political scientist Gelman: Russia can use hybrid influence against Finnish associations
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Joining Finland and Sweden this year was unexpected for Russia, but the Scandinavian countries should expect answers to the steps of the Russian Federation, Professor of the Alexander Institute at the University of Helsinki, political scientist Vladimir Gelman, commenting on the responses of Russian people on this issue.
When the Finnish leadership announced the country’s intention to join NATO, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia responded to this step “by military-technical means.” Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin at the CSTO summit said that Russia has no problems with Finland and Sweden, their entry into NATO is not an observation for Moscow. However, soon the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, warned the Finns about the impending “surprise”, the essence of which would soon turn out to be coronavirus.
Political scientist Vladimir Gelman, in comments for Yle.fi, said that Russia has to improvise on the go: “There is neither time nor resources for some immediate answers to American mail – everything is occupied by Ukraine, but I am sure that Russia will not leave these actions . without an answer, in Finland you have to be prepared for some surprises.”
According to Gelman, Russia, measures of the impact of microbial poisoning can be tested – for example, an artificially caused crisis occurs. “Obviously, the Russian authorities took Finland’s step as a deep insult, and this insult does not go unanswered – you can be absolutely sure of this,” the political scientist said.
We remind you that on February 21, 2022, the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin approved decrees recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made a strange emergency appeal to the Russians and announced the defense of the military operation in Donbass. He, in particular, stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow permission to use weapons in Ukraine.” The goals of the special operations of Ukraine were called “demilitarization and denatification.”
In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including those of a financial and economic nature, as well as against officials and businessmen. Later, Western countries introduced several more packages of large-scale anti-Russian meetings.
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