Finland’s last remaining public statue of Vladimir Lenin was dismantled on Tuesday in a city in the south-east of the country, which has been removing Soviet-related monuments since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Dozens of people watched the monument’s removal in the city of Kotka — some of them with bottles of sparkling wine, to be popped at the conclusion of the process. The report by the AFP news agency, however, saw at least one man demonstrating against the measure carrying a Soviet flag.
The monument, by Estonian sculptor Matti Varik (1939-2011), depicted Lenin in a pensive attitude, with his hand resting on his chin. It was donated to Kotka in 1979 by the government of Tallinn, sister city, then part of the Soviet Union as well.
“Removing the statue of the founder of one of the most brutal regimes in the world, Soviet communism, from the streets is a great achievement,” Matti Leikkonen, 77, told AFP. The monument will initially be placed in a warehouse.
According to Markku Hannonen, a municipal official in Kotka who participated in the statue’s removal, many townspeople appreciated the piece — or at least saw it as something familiar. On the other hand, calls for it to be removed also multiplied, “because it reflected a period of repression in Finnish history.”
In April, the southwestern city of Turku also removed a bust of Lenin in the center of the city. In August, the capital Helsinki dismantled a bronze statue called “World Peace” that had been given away by Moscow in 1990.
The measures are reminiscent of the removal of monuments, in the United States and in European countries, honoring figures associated with the slaveholding past, in the wake of global debates on racism fueled by the Black Lives Matter movement.
In the Finnish case, they are associated with a series of ruptures triggered by the Ukrainian War. The wave began in May, when the country, which has one of the longest land borders with Russia, at 1,300 km, made a formal application to join NATO, the US-led Western military alliance — a move that Sweden would follow.
The move broke a historic neutrality status established after two conflicts with the Soviet Union during World War II. Finland then tacitly established this position in the Cold War, in exchange for assurances that it would never again be the target of invasion attempts by Moscow.
Nordic neutrality has always been about Russia. Sweden was an expansionist kingdom and invaded its large neighbor in the 18th century, but in 1809 it decided to isolate itself after losing Finland to the Russian Empire. In the two wars it fought against the Russians between 1939 and 1944, Helsinki managed to avoid annexation by the Soviets, but lost 10% of its territory. It was precisely this trauma that led the country to adopt a strict policy of non-alignment.
In practice, however, neutrality was partial, especially in the Swedish case. Both countries have been members of the European Union since 1994, which gives them access to a mutual defense clause in NATO standards, although it is little known and no one knows how it would trigger.
If the adhesions are confirmed – and it is unlikely that they will not be –, the movement will leave Switzerland as a stronghold of neutrality in Europe. Previously, Geneva and Helsinki shared the spotlight for summit meetings between Russia and Western countries, such as the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in 2018, held in the Finnish capital, or that of the Russian with Joe Biden, based in the Swiss city last year. .
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
