Sauli Niinistö Warns About 'Green Men'
The former Finnish ex-president Sauli Niinistö calls for vigilance, from his experience the secret forces initiating the Russia's annexation of Crimea, the 'Green Men' might reappear in some shape
The Finnish President Sauli Niinistö (Conservative, National Coalition Party) ended his second 6-year period in office by the end of April this year. The presidency was handed over to Alexander Stubb from the right-wing faction of the same party, who is much less popular than his predecessor, so he has some work to do on that front.
Sauli Niinistö is still very popular in Finland, and he does, on occasion make public speeches. Before we look at one of those, here is a bit from his departing press conference, while still president:
Q: When Russia attacked Ukraine, did you then personally feel that you had been fooled, because Putin had given a promise that he did not keep?
A: No. I have.. But let us go a bit further back in time. After 2014-15 (when Russia annexed Crimea, red.) people started to talk about lack of trust in the Minsk agreement. Then, let’s say about 2018-19 I believe we understood Minsk was not going to lead to anything. That it did not work. And many, including me, in a way used the Minsk agreement to sort push the problem (of Russian aggression, red.) aside. As for what came after that a little later, I visited Kremlin for the first time in October 2021 and I obviously know some things, so I asked Putin if there were any obstacles regarding Ukraine, and he said everything is OK and we shall continue talks with the United States. (My translation from the YLE video)
Photo: President Sauli Niinistö's office
A few days ago, on 5 September 2024, former president Sauli Niinistö then addressed a conference for academic-business collaboration. He talked again about the 2014 happenings on Crimea and warned that it could happen again.
President Sauli Niinistö urges people to be vigilant in the current world situation. Niinistö spoke at the Eva celebration seminar of the business delegation. Niinistö says that it is not intended to scare anyone. However, he urges us to notice that sometimes things happen that are visible but remain unseen. He takes the example of 2014 in Ukraine, where Russia occupied Crimea.
- In March 2014, it was rumored that there were a lot of little green men moving around, Niinistö reminds. At that time, Russia occupied Crimea with a hybrid warfare operation in which its soldiers remained unrecognized.
- It's not worth lulling yourself into such a sense of security that you can't see what's going on around you and hear what's being said, Niinistö says. (YLE)
Niinistö went on to discuss the possibility of China taking an active role in ensuring a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine. He thinks the economic interest of China is against war, for stability, alongside with the EU and USA, the two main trading partners of China. In that way, China should guarantee that Russia will not start on any new ‘business’ (wars, red.), as he called it.
Talking about Russian interest in certain areas of the Baltic neighbors, the new Finnish president Stubb recently paid a visit to one particular place , the independent archipelago of Åland between Finland and Sweden. The main concern is that because of its particular constitutional status, Åland is demilitarized. It was a growing concern during and after the Cold War, but became particularly hot when Finland and Sweden became members of NATO in 2023.
Åland was granted autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations. Its only official language is Swedish and the capital city is Mariehamn. Being part of Finland, that has a small but vocal Swedish-speaking minority on the mainland, it is also in NATO and will be guarded under both national and international terms. But as there is not any military presence, it may be vulnerable. Hence it may well be relevant for the extra caution and observation that Niinistö is talking about, both on Åland and other places around the Baltic Sea. The Finnish newspaper Huvfudstadsbladet wrote in their coverage of the president’s visit to Åland: “In 2022, Åland was mentioned in Russian media 1,098 times, and in 2023 the figure had risen to 2,488. During the first eight months of 2024, Åland was mentioned 2,552 times.” The increase in mentions is mainly about the status of Åland, questioning the demilitarization and about the status of Åland in light of Finland’s membership of NATO.
The Alands islands (Åland) during the Crimean War. Drawing. Public domain.
This is an aside, but Åland was attacked by Anglo-French naval forces during the Crimean War 1853-1856 between Russia and and alliance including Britain and France. At that time, Finland was annexed by Russia as the Grand Duchy of Finland, and Åland was part thereof.