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Minna Ålander 🌻 Profile picture
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Sep 4 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
🇫🇮&🇸🇪 are not just idly waiting for the remaining 6 ratifications (🇵🇹🇪🇸🇬🇷🇸🇰🇭🇺🇹🇷) but continuously conducting exercises to further increase interoperability with NATO & with each other.

This week, 880 🇸🇪 personnel came for an exercise to Northern 🇫🇮
puolustusvoimat.fi/en/-/1950813/f…
Also 80 personnel from 🇬🇧 participated in the exercise (please take a moment to appreciate the name #VigilantKnife 🙂)
The Swedish troops were under Finnish command during the exercise. Here some 🇸🇪 artillery power
The 🇫🇮&🇸🇪 Commanders came to visit the exercise, along with a NATO colleague.
The objective of the exercise was to improve Finland’s ability to receive Swedish Army units as well as to reinforce defence cooperation with Sweden in the special conditions of Northern Finland (Arctic warfare is not just snow & cold but also nonstop daylight in the summer)
Usually this type of exercise would be planned months (if not years) ahead but even on such short notice, the interoperability of 🇫🇮&🇸🇪 forces proved very satisfactory.

Big brother Finland is always happy to lend a hand to little brother Sweden 😉

🇫🇮🤝🇸🇪 #StrongerTogether

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More from @minna_alander

Minna Ålander 🌻 Profile picture
Sep 5
The space for reasonable discussion & legitimate criticism of differing positions in Europe in the context of Russia’s war has become almost non-existent due to the prevalent toxic mood.

At the risk of getting cancelled by all sides, I’ll nevertheless try to address the matter
It’s indicative of a deeper problem with European solidarity, which took a bad hit in the euro crisis & never fully recovered. Last year I expected the north-south divide to become the greatest challenge to 🇪🇺 unity, but Russia’s war has brought back the East-West divide too
It looks like CEE & Baltics are now screaming at the top of their lungs and disagreeing with whatever 🇩🇪&🇫🇷 do - damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The tone is often counterproductive and idiotic suggestions such as discarding 🇩🇪&🇫🇷 from Europe/EU just discredit the message
Read 16 tweets
Minna Ålander 🌻 Profile picture
Sep 5
It’s quite amazing how widely and without any source criticism @visegrad24 is shared on Twitter by even legit big accounts.

They may be good re: Ukraine, but no real news outlet has ever blocked me - and I’ve ranted about others way more.
All it took to be blocked by Visegrad24 was to point out that they have an anti-German/French agenda (which, btw, goes way back to before Russia’s invasion). Serious media would engage with criticism, not block it.
Visegrad24 is one of the main actors spreading polarisation in Europe with their anti-German/French framing and limiting the space for constructive and legitimate criticism and discourse. It’s as counterproductive as Russian trolls and plays into the same hands.
Read 5 tweets
Minna Ålander 🌻 Profile picture
Sep 2
It’s a big inconsistency in the EU sanctions that Russians can’t fly to Europe from Russia but they can come by other means (or fly within 🇪🇺). That has made Finland the main transit hub for Russian travellers because the easiest way is to drive across the border & fly from 🇫🇮.
So if you don’t want the EU to restrict the number of visas issued to Russian citizens, what do you propose instead ? Allowing Russian airlines to fly into the EU again ? If not that, how do you propose to reduce the admin burden on 🇫🇮 border guard & customs otherwise ?
As you see, if you actually look into the matter instead of making sweeping (and very ideological !) accusations of a new Iron Curtain, it’s not (only) an emotional topic but a very practical issue. And I don’t see ANYONE opposing restrictions to Russians’ mobility address that.
Read 4 tweets
Minna Ålander 🌻 Profile picture
Sep 2
Yes send arms and also ignore what Putin will or won’t use for his propaganda. We simply don’t have a say in that and he can spin anything the way he needs to. It’s the same as with the threats: the West can’t base its course of action on what Putin will SAY about it
And limiting Russian tourism (please again note: there’s a lot of grey between the black & white full ban/ completely free movement) is very far from counterproductive symbolism. It will really help Finland and Estonia to deal with the administrative burden, which I outlined here
Everyone opposed to *any* restriction of Russian tourism atm should provide an alternative solution, given the extensive sanctions which put a notable burden on the border control authorities of Finland, Estonia and Latvia (with a combined population of less than 8 million !)
Read 5 tweets
Minna Ålander 🌻 Profile picture
Aug 31
Have to say I hate this “emotional pro-ban” argument, as here in @POLITICOEurope. Ofc people feel strongly, but this is also a very practical challenge for countries like Finland & Estonia that currently bear the burden for border controls & implementation of sanctions
In Finland, after Russia lifted the Covid restrictions on 15 July just on time for the holiday season, end of July the numbers of Russians crossing the border had already reached ~6k daily. If you take movement in both directions, it’s ~10k crossings per day
Finnish customs have already tightened controls but it’s still a lot given that Finland has the responsibility to confiscate any sanctioned goods Russian tourists are try to bring back from the EU. 🇫🇮 customs says attempts are frequent and a fair number also succeeds
Read 10 tweets
Minna Ålander 🌻 Profile picture
Aug 31
It’s understandable that for Germans, Gorbachev is primarily related to German reunification and thus remembered through a positive lens.

But also alarming how many (also other Western Europeans) report that they never learned about the violent crackdowns e.g. in the Baltics
German tributes to “Gorbi” also illustrate another peculiarity of Germany’s history: that when Germans speak of Europeans and Europe, they actually mostly (probably without realising it) mean Western Europe.
Germany, in the middle of Europe, could have a 360 degrees view of Europe. But after the reunification, which was actually more an absorption of East Germany into West Germany, the West German focus and a rather narrow view to the West and esp France prevailed
Read 4 tweets

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