Jump to content

UK agrees mutual security deals with Finland and Sweden


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 529
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Also:

https://www.defmin.fi/en/topical/speeches/minister_of_defence_antti_hakkanens_speech_at_the_informal_meeting_of_nato_defence_ministers_at_the_vilnius_summit.13751.news#30bda23e

 

NATO is transforming its deterrence and defence to become stronger than ever. This is exactly the type of Alliance the Finnish public wanted to join. 

Edited by Sardaukar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finland and USA are negotiating Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA).

https://yle.fi/a/74-20044717 (in Finnish, but Google Translate).

Finland is negotiating a new defense cooperation agreement with the United States. The contract is exceptional. Finland would allow the presence of another country's troops in the country for longer than usual military exercises.

The purpose of the agreement is that US soldiers have facilities and areas in Finland at their disposal, for example for training, storing weapons and maintaining equipment.

US military forces are likely to be given access to at least one airport and port, as well as access to some training area. The premises assigned to the United States of the premises of the current garrisons of the Defense Forces or in their immediate vicinity.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/7/2023 at 5:22 PM, bojan said:

Sputnik is tabloid.

sputnik.ee published several articles by a former  major general of  GRU  vladimir rodin , who also had lieut. general rank in kgb, who turned out to be an mmm.....eccentric  farm worker villu rooda

 

 

😁 example - https://web.archive.org/web/20180329185511/https://sputnik-news.ee/society/20160614/2138496.html

how gru tried to evacuate che guevara, pretending to be archeologists ,

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://yle.fi/a/74-20046011

Increased Russian propaganda and sharpened rhetoric towards Finland have not surprised the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF), General Timo Kivinen.

Kivinen spoke on Yle 1's television morning talk show Ykkösaamu about Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu's remarks that Russia plans to reinforce its western border by placing more troops.

"Messages to this effect were expected as early as spring 2022," Kivinen said.

With what? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, urbanoid said:

North Koreans? Maybe then you can reenact the Finno-Korean Hyperwar that took place thousands of years ago.

https://en.uncyclopedia.co/wiki/Finno-Korean_hyperwar

One of my fav foods abroad was bulgogi (we did call it "bulldog")...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgogi

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://yle.fi/a/74-20046173

Valtonen told the audience of Finnish foreign policy leaders that she believes Ukraine will remain an independent state and that Russia will start to feel the effects of economic sanctions.

She also said that Russia has ruined its relationship with Finland, emphasising Russia's responsibility for the invasion of Ukraine and noting that the Kremlin needs to be held accountable for the damages caused by the war.

"Wagner's midsummer revolt demonstrated that we must also prepare for unexpected and sudden changes. We should also be prepared for the possibility that the war will continue for a long time," Valtonen said, adding Finland's "main hope" is that Russia ends the war as soon as possible.

....

"As a border state, Finland must take care of its own defence," Valtonen stated, telling the audience that Finland and the rest of Europe should rapidly increase their own arms production.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
22 hours ago, Sardaukar said:

Yes.

Maybe you should stop invading other countries. 

Actually, we Russians must be grateful to Finland Gov (and other Governments who are taking similar measures) for that, since:

1) Short-term: It will significantly decrease ability of pro-Ulrainain/Western agents to operate inside Russia freely with safe route out (see how people involved in Darya Dugina have lefr Russia on own cars)

2) Long-term - it is the blow against pro-Western "upper middle class" of big cities. Mo more "earning money in Russia, spending them abroad", no more "Dacha in Finland, also good as escape route if something goes wrong", no more children in Westefrn schools and univercities, no more weekly shopping abroad (was popular among upper middle class of StPete and Kaliningrad). Money earned in Russia are to be spent in Russia.

Combined with sanctions against "oligarchs" and top bureoucrats, it will do more for "nationalisation of elite", then all empty rethoric of "collective Putin" about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Sardaukar said:

Yea, I can really see how beneficial it is for Russians to not being able to travel to most civilized countries for some time now. :D

I'm sorry but Russians were mostly traveling to Finland because it was cheaper place than StPete :)  Good luck finding other tourists to replace them. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Roman Alymov said:

I'm sorry but Russians were mostly traveling to Finland because it was cheaper place than StPete :)  Good luck finding other tourists to replace them. 

Already have.  Good luck finding holiday destinations in future while dodging next mobilization. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

there is really very little need for us to visit russia and vice versa. 

during the football cup a young russian guy worked in my company, who visited the games. after that he tried to share his experiences in smoking room

´´if you go visit russia, make sure your car is in guarded parking hous...´´

- ´´dude, nobody is interested visiting russia....´´

 

´´but if you do, make sure your car is in....´´

-´´dude, look, no offence, but nobody is interested visiting russia ....´´

- ´but....but St. petersburg is closest  major world city, and moscow is grand´´

-´dude, i  can visit all major world cities i want to, why should i spend my own money in that particular hostile country?´´

 

frankly, the less both west and russia  have contact with each other, the healthier it is for both sides , at least in short and medium term.

russia gets to keep the money  stolen from them and that same stolen money stops crapping  our lives*

 

* the anti-money-laundering regulations is a book of 800+ pages A4 in estonia, and in latvia guy organising funeral for my mother-in-law had to explain to tax office why he paid in cash for part of  ceremony and where did he get that cash , all thanks to russians trying to get their money out of russia, using the best and brightest minds in their country to find/create  loopholes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, bd1 said:

there is really very little need for us to visit russia and vice versa. 

during the football cup a young russian guy worked in my company, who visited the games. after that he tried to share his experiences in smoking room

´´if you go visit russia, make sure your car is in guarded parking hous...´´

- ´´dude, nobody is interested visiting russia....´´

 

"Nobody" is a little bit overstatement, here is pre-COVID data from 2019, note almost million Finns coming to Russia. Also note decrease in number of citizens of Ukraine comming - quite explainable by growing number of people obtaining Russian passport and using it for travel to Russia.

"In 2019, 20.5% more foreign tourists came to Russia
17.02.2020

From January to December 2019, foreigners made 32.9 million visits to Russia. This is about the same as in 2018 – an increase of 0.98%. However, at the same time, the number of foreigners visiting Russia for tourist purposes increased by 20.5% over the year and amounted to 5.1 million people.

The Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation has uploaded fresh data on the entry of foreign citizens into Russia. According to the results of 2019, 32,866,137 foreign citizens entered the Russian Federation, which is only 0.98% (315.6 thousand) more than in 2018.

The number of visits from Ukraine, which ranks first in terms of the number of entries for various purposes, continues to decline. In 2019, Ukrainians came to Russia 8.7 million times. This is almost 6% less than a year earlier.

Almost all other countries in the TOP 10 (mainly the CIS countries and the former republics of the USSR) show an increase in the number of visits. The number of visits from Kazakhstan increased by 1.7% (to 4.3 million), from Uzbekistan – by almost 10% (2.6 million). The top 10 also included: China (2.3 million, +11.2%), Tajikistan (1.6 million, +17.6%), Azerbaijan (1.2 million, +2.5%), Kyrgyzstan (959.1 thousand, +11.6%), Finland (938.7 thousand, -5.6%), Armenia (816.5 thousand, minus 1%), Germany (744.5 thousand, +6.1%).

The absolute majority of the listed countries are not suppliers of classic tourists to Russia. Foreigners from the TOP 10 countries come for work, personal business, shopping, visiting relatives, etc.

Only China and Germany are partially the major suppliers of tourists from the top ten. At the same time, out of 2.3 million, only 1.5 million Chinese indicated tourism as the purpose of their visit to Russia.

INCOMING TOURIST FLOW INCREASED BY 20.5%
Last year, foreigners made 5,061,696 visits to Russia, indicating tourism as the purpose of their trip (+ 20.5% compared to the corresponding indicators of 2018). Thus, at the end of 2019, almost one fifth more foreign tourists visited Russia than in 2018.

The TOP 5 main suppliers of tourists have not changed in comparison with 2018. The largest number of tourists, according to the FSB, came from China – 1.5 million. The tourist flow from China increased by almost 19%.

Recall that 1.2 million Chinese citizens visited Russia through the "visa-free channel" as part of tourist groups. Most of them (750 thousand) We had a rest in Moscow and St. Petersburg. I recorded another 170 thousand visits in 2019 . Primorsky Krai, 116 thousand – Amur Region, 38 thousand – Trans-Baikal Territory, 15.1 thousand – Khabarovsk Territory.

TOP 10 key inbound tourism markets in Russia in terms of tourism visits (number of trips in 2019)

Source: data of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia

Germany is in second place in terms of the number of tourists. During the year, citizens of this country made 522.2 thousand visits to Russia, which is 15.7% higher than in 2018.

South Korea is in third place. In 2019, the tourist flow from this country increased by 20.8% and amounted to 413.6 thousand.

The tourist flow to Russia from the USA continues to grow. Last year, Americans made 241.1 tourist visits to Russia, which is 6% more than a year earlier.

Israel closes the TOP 5 with 199 thousand tourist visits per year and an increase of +21.7%.

The second half of the top ten tourism donors for Russia in 2019 has undergone some changes. In sixth place, as a year earlier, Italy. The data for this country once again confirm the trend towards the restoration of the tourist flow from Europe to Russia – in 2019, 154.8 thousand visits were recorded from Italy (an annual increase of +22%).

France took the seventh place with the growth of the tourist flow at the level of 32.4%, pushing the UK to a lower position in 2019. In total, in 2019, the French made 154.3 tourist visits to Russia.

The tourist flow from the UK increased by only 6.5% and amounted to 133.8 thousand in 2019.

The last two positions of the TOP 10 remained unchanged - in ninth place, as in 2018, Spain (110.9 thousand, an increase of 30%), in tenth – Japan (80.3 thousand, an increase of 31.2%).

The number of major suppliers of tourists to Russia in 2019 also included India (76.8 thousand, +46%), Estonia (69 thousand, +74%), Finland (67.7 thousand, +21%), Latvia (60 thousand, +61%), Thailand (59 thousand, +15%), Lithuania (57 thousand, +137%), Turkey (51.7 thousand, +11.2%), Australia (51.1 thousand, +9.4%). The tourist flow from other countries at the end of the year was less than 50 thousand.

ASIA IS IN THE BLACK, LATIN AMERICA IS IN THE RED
At the end of the year, the growth of tourist flow in the Russian Federation was shown by almost all countries, the number of visits of which exceeds 10 thousand.

Predictably, in 2019, the tourist flow to Russia from Latin American countries decreased. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, many fans came to Russia from these countries, but this flow did not become stable. The statistics of the FSB Border Service shows that the number of visits from Brazil in 2019 decreased by 4.6% (to 38 thousand), from Argentina – by 27% (to 19 thousand), from Colombia – by 8.6% (to 12.6 thousand), from Peru – by 33% (to 5.7 thousand).

At the same time, the tourist flow from Asian countries was actively growing in 2019. More tourists came to Russia from China, South Korea, Japan, India, Thailand, Hong Kong (22.5 thousand, +1%), Vietnam (21.3 thousand, +56.5%), Indonesia (16.8 thousand, +74.8%), Taiwan (14 thousand, +33.7%), Malaysia (11.4 thousand, +42%)."https://www.atorus.ru/news/press-centre/new/50489.html?ysclid=lmp2yq5nl6812328162 )

   But i agree with you, the less contacts we here in Russia have with West, the better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Sardaukar said:

Already have.  Good luck finding holiday destinations in future while dodging next mobilization. 

You realise that more Russians have visited the Nato country witht he second bigest army than ever this past year right?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Mistral said:

You realise that more Russians have visited the Nato country witht he second bigest army than ever this past year right?  

By the way it is sort of grumbling about in Russian social networks, as policy of Turkey is, let's say, self-serving and relations with Russia are, at least, complex.... 

  Changes will take years (as there is no way to create tourist infrastructure in one day) and Russia is obviously short of warm sea resorts, but anyway internal Russian tourism is booming - for example, +40% more tourists on Baikal lake in 2022 (about 3mln), no data for 2023 but now tourists complain that "wild trails" are full of people and they do not feel explorers anymore.....

Edited by Roman Alymov
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Roman Alymov said:

"Nobody" is a little bit overstatement, here is pre-COVID data from 2019, note almost million Finns coming to Russia. Also note decrease in number of citizens of Ukraine comming - quite explainable by growing number of people obtaining Russian passport and using it for travel to Russia.

"In 2019, 20.5% more foreign tourists came to Russia

   But i agree with you, the less contacts we here in Russia have with West, the better.

majority of those tourists coming from estonia and finland  to russia (and from finland to estonia/ from estonia to latvia) don´t get farther than nearest supermarkets . 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bd1 said:

majority of those tourists coming from estonia and finland  to russia (and from finland to estonia/ from estonia to latvia) don´t get farther than nearest supermarkets . 

Well, the problem this civilized people got with alchogol became proverbal here in Russia, but it is up to them - as long as they pay for their drinks (they do) and more or less are not causing troubles (they do not), they are wellcome to destoy as much vodka as they like to by consuming it.

B y the way below are impression of Russian tourist about Finland, from back in 2015:

"At the numerous requests of readers, I briefly state my impressions of Finland..

So, one of the advantages of the country is a really very good network of motorways, at least the main ones. But, if you go to the country roads, the impression is somewhat spoiled... The widespread creative class whining "there, even in rural areas, all the paths are sprinkled with pebbles" does not correspond to reality a little more than completely...

The faces of most aborigines are no different from the faces of residents of St. Petersburg or the north of Russia, which is nice. Nobody cares about  appearance there: you can walk in anything, even in rags - no one cares. If you see a well-dressed person, it's a tourist from Russia. The myth that "everyone smiles at each other there" also does not correspond to reality: everyone's faces are sad, even the sellers do not stick a smile.

I recommend that those who like to talk about Russian laziness and worthlessness go to Finland - there, as in Spain, people do not suffer from special labor zeal. All museums and shops close at 17.00. Especially heroic ones last until 18.00. Restaurants and eateries for the most part also close at 6 pm, only a few finish before midnight. It should be noted that in our "decent" restaurants the service is much better, and the prices are 30 percent lower. Drunk Finns is a separate song. We do not get drunk to such a bestial state, except for station bruises and rural lower class. There are also quite decent-looking people getting drunk there, especially on the Finnish folk holiday "Friiday".

Helsinki is a clean city, but before sunset. In the evening and on weekends, you will not find such a shit everywhere. The "Finnish driving culture" is very specific: the most Finnish Finns easily run red lights, turn around through oncoming lanes, drive onto sidewalks, etc. Cyclists consider themselves elite - they allow themselves to ride not only on dedicated bike paths, but also in the pedestrian zone, and they are very indignant if someone interferes with their passage. The police are not in sight, but they are somewhere...

The excessive abundance of Blacks, Arabs and other incomprehensible dark-skinned and swarthy public is unpleasant to the eye. Judging by the anthropological features, most of the "Afrofinn" come from East Africa. There are a lot of Gypsies, especially at train stations and stations. They do the same thing as ours... A lot of beggars, especially near the Orthodox Assumption Cathedral, are lured by compassionate Russian tourists.

Museums are extremely provincial and very poor. The military Museum painfully resembles our beloved CMVS, but 10 times smaller. It is useless to ask the caretakers about something - they are only guards. The Museum of Natural History is inferior even to the Museum of Local Lore of the city of Vyborg... I will modestly keep silent about art museums. However, the Sveaborg fortress is very nice for a walk, but again, if you do not go deeper. There are no books on military history and uniformology from the word "absolutely". The only good thing I found and took is a book about models of Finnish army helmets. In Finnish language...

The historical center of Helsinki from an architectural point of view is St. Petersburg. But, with respect to the Finns, everything is restored and maintained in good condition. A little further from the center, everything is built up with very inexpressive "Scandinavian" high-rise buildings. Quite simple people on the outskirts live in houses that are very reminiscent of the luxury version of "Khrushchev's 5-floor houses". Houses a little richer are surrounded by fences, like fortresses. There are a lot of memorials and monuments in the city, but they are very depressing... Which is good - there are no stray animals on the streets, dogs are walking on a short leash in muzzles, and a fine is due for feeding birds in the center. Such a postcard to our compassionate old ladies...

In general, Helsinki is a much more depressing city than St. Petersburg. It's very nice to walk along empty streets or the seashore there and think about the impermanence of all earthly things. And it's even better to sit down for the summer in a house somewhere on the seashore or lake and write a big depressive book...

In short, the country, as a country, is completely ordinary and not outstanding in any way. If you want to have a measured rest, take a walk, without bothering with cultural life, then OK, velkam! The slobbering raptures of our creative class: "My God, how beautiful it is there" are completely incomprehensible to me.

"Everywhere is good where we are not" - folk wisdom teaches!"https://maxfux.livejournal.com/892853.html?ysclid=lmp9pep2dc951706891 )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, Roman Alymov said:

Well, the problem this civilized people got with alchogol became proverbal here in Russia, but it is up to them - as long as they pay for their drinks (they do) and more or less are not causing troubles (they do not), they are wellcome to destoy as much vodka as they like to by consuming it.

The faces of most aborigines are no different from the faces of residents of St. Petersburg or the north of Russia, which is nice. Nobody cares about  appearance there: you can walk in anything, even in rags - no one cares. If you see a well-dressed person, it's a tourist from Russia. The myth that "everyone smiles at each other there" also does not correspond to reality: everyone's faces are sad, even the sellers do not stick a smile.

These parts are completely accurate - few Finns care about how their clothes or hair looks. Even millionaires tend to walk around in old and worn-out utilitary clothes. Billionaire Niklas Herlin was often mistook for a jobless alcoholic. Only Finns who dress neatly are immigrant-born, or teenage urban Finns who emulate their culture. And anyone who smiles in public is seen a weirdo.

Finns often refer themselves as 'windbreakers', as cheap windstopper jackets or anoraks are essentially a national dress.

Part about shops or restaurants not being open late is over 20 years obsolete. Unless your visit takes place in Midsummer weekend, then almost everything is closed.

Edited by Yama
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...