Finland–United States relations

Finland – United States relations

Finland	United States
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Finland, Washington, D.C.	Embassy of the United States, Helsinki

Finland and the United States currently have good relations. The United States was one of the first countries to recognize Finland after it declared independence in 1917, and officially established diplomatic relations in 1920. Due to World War II and Soviet pressure, relations were suspended between 1944 and 1945 before being raised to embassy level in 1954. Finland has been of strategic importance to the United States due to its position bordering the Soviet Union and later Russia, and after the end of the Cold War in 1991 Finland's shift to the West has led to warmer relations. There is significant trade activity, including military procurement, between the two countries.

History[]

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in the Oval Office in 2019

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in the Washington, D.C. in February 2020

Following the Finnish declaration of independence on December 6, 1917, the U.S. government was among the first to recognize it. Diplomatic relations between the two governments were established in 1920 at a legation level.^[1]

During the Second World War, as the Finnish government cooperated with the Axis Powers, relations were maintained nevertheless. The U.S. government resisted Soviet pressures to declare war on Finland, but on June 30, 1944, it agreed to sever diplomatic relations with the Finnish government. Following the Finnish withdrawal from the war and Finnish action against German troops in early 1945, the U.S. government reopened its legation in Helsinki on March 1, 1945. On August 20, 1945, negotiations were started between the two governments on re-establishing diplomatic relation, and this was done on August 31.^[2]

Relations between the two countries were raised to embassy level on September 10, 1954.

Relations between the United States and Finland are warm. Some 270,000 U.S. citizens visit Finland annually, and about 6,000 U.S. citizens are residents there. The U.S. has an educational exchange program in Finland that is comparatively large for a Western European country of Finland's size. It is financed in part from a trust fund established in 1976 from Finland's final repayment of a U.S. loan made in the aftermath of World War I.

Finland is bordered on the east by Russia and, as one of the former Soviet Union’s neighbors, has been of particular interest and importance to the U.S. both during the Cold War and in its aftermath. Before the USSR dissolved in 1991, longstanding US policy was to support Finnish neutrality while maintaining and reinforcing Finland's historic, cultural, and economic ties with the West. The U.S. has welcomed Finland's increased participation since 1991 in Western economic and political structures.

Economic and trade relations between Finland and the United States are active and were bolstered by the F-18 Hornet purchase. U.S.–Finland trade totals almost $5 billion annually. The U.S. receives about 7% of Finland's exports – mainly pulp and paper, ships, machinery, electronics, instruments, and refined petroleum products^[3] – and provides about 7% of its imports – principally computers, semiconductors, aircraft, machinery.

Embassy of the United States in Helsinki

Embassy of Finland in Washington, D.C.

Principal U.S. officials include

• Ambassador – Robert Pence^[4]
• Deputy Chief of Mission – Susan Elbow
• Public Affairs Counselor – Jeff Reneau
• Political-Economic Section Chief – Rodney Hunter
• Management Affairs – Steven Rider
• Commercial Section – Nicholas Kuchova
• Defense Attache – Colonel Scott Shugato
• Consular Officer – Susan Carl
• Regional Security Officer – Rick Gregory
• Agricultural Officer – Steve Huete (resident in The Hague)

The U.S. embassy in Finland is in Helsinki.

Finland has an embassy in Washington, D.C.

Public opinion[]

According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 48% of Finnish people approve of U.S. leadership, with 34% disapproving and 18% uncertain.^[5]

Embassies[]

The Embassy of the United States is located in Helsinki, Finland. The Embassy of Finland is located in Washington, D.C.

See also[]

• Finnish Americans
• US–EU relations

References[]

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3238.htm#relations.

Further reading[]

• Fields, Marek. "Reinforcing Finland's Attachment to the West: British and American Propaganda and Cultural Diplomacy in Finland, 1944-1962." (2015). Abstract
• Golubev, Alexey, and Irina Takala. The Search for a Socialist El Dorado: Finnish Immigration to Soviet Karelia from the United States and Canada in the 1930s (MSU Press, 2014)
• Jakobson, Max. The diplomacy of the winter war: an account of the Russo-Finnish War, 1939-1940 (Harvard Univ Press, 1961.)
• Rislakki, Jukka, "`Without Mercy': U.S. Strategic Intelligence and Finland in the Cold War," Journal of Military History, (Jan. 2015) 79#1 pp: 127–49.
• Schwartz, Andrew J. America and the Russo-Finnish War (Public Affairs Press, 1960)
• Wargelin Brown, K. Marianne. "Finnish Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 137–151. online

External links[]

• History of Finland - U.S. relations

Media related to Relations of Finland and the United States at Wikimedia Commons