Finland goes west: the tortuous road from Cold War neutrality to the EU and NATO, 1989-1992

On 4 April 2023, almost three decades after joining the European Union, Finland became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In doing so, the small Nordic country on Europe's northeastern flank became fully integrated into the “institutional West,” shedding more than 70 years of a delicate balancing act between East and West. What, beyond the exogenous shock of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, led to this outcome? Using recently declassified Finnish, British, and German documents combined with Soviet sources, this article places Helsinki's policymaking in a wider chronological and international context. It shows how Finland's turn away from neutrality was the culmination of numerous small steps on a difficult, often circuitous, path out of the strictures of the Cold War divides in Europe. Rather than just passively waiting, the Finns pushed quietly but forcefully to remove the limitations on their sovereignty after 1989, when Europe was transformed, Germany was unified, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Driven by a strong presidency and bolstered by an overwhelming national consensus, Finland cautiously but firmly maneuvered out of the Russian shadow.