Finland, which previously had to ask Moscow what international organisations it could join, suddenly understood that this was no longer required. In the years from 1982 to 1994, while Koivisto was president, the world changed beyond recognition. Koivisto began his career during Finlandisation, and at the end of his term Finland was ready to accede to the European Union. He was the first president after Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, whose 25-year term of office was an entire era in Finnish history. We have to understand the environment that Koivisto came from. There was a lot of enthusiasm at the grassroots level. People went to Finland to buy goods that could not be had in Estonia or simply to look around and breathe the air of freedom, like the author of this piece. Let us recall the early 1990s, when Finland was open for Estonians and every Estonian knew a Finn and vice versa.
Several analysts have already noted that the question of supporting Estonia was more or less the only point on which the Finnish public-which is usually fine with the foreign policy of its country’s leaders-did not understand Koivisto’s policy. It just had to look more discreet from a diplomatic perspective. It has now become clear that Koivisto, who appeared to falter in supporting and recognising Estonia, really did support the country-through cultural cooperation, in which Finland invested tens of millions of marks. Former Finnish President Mauno Koivisto, who departed this world in May, was perhaps the most controversial Finnish politician for Estonians.
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