Cold War in Finland
GOODRICH, AUSTIN
Resignation of Fagerholm Government, forced by Soviet economic pressure and infernal political strife, points up need for Western assistance Cold War in Finland HELSINKI THE FALL of Social...
...But they seem determined to get back into the Cabinet, or at least to play a larger role in policy making...
...Such a loan would serve the dual purpose of eliminating Finland's dependency on Soviet wheat and providing capital for much-needed investment in, for instance, the shipbuilding industry...
...Given the capital, Finland would like nothing better than to build ships for its own merchant fleet...
...As for Finnish imports from Russia, the big items are wheat, oil and certain other raw materials, all of which could be obtained elsewhere...
...Among other things, they charged it with pursuing a "reactionary anti-Soviet" policy...
...While the crisis produced by Soviet pressure was mounting, there was a growing feeling in Helsinki that the Finns could win this silent war if the Government remained united...
...And it was the resignation of Foreign Minister Johannes Virolainen, an Agrarian, followed by the resignation of the four other Agrarian party members in the fifteen-man Cabinet, which finally forced Premier Fagerholm to submit his resignation to President Urko Kekkonen...
...Had Senator John F. Kennedy's amendment to the Battle Act been passed by the last Congress, Finland could now apply for a U. S. loan in the form of surplus wheat...
...The time will come, it was said, when the Soviets will realize that they stand to lose by continuing to turn the economic screw, not least of all in the eyes of world opinion...
...Resignation of Fagerholm Government, forced by Soviet economic pressure and infernal political strife, points up need for Western assistance Cold War in Finland HELSINKI THE FALL of Social Democratic Premier Karl-August Fager holm's coalition Government on December 4 climaxed a crisis that has plagued Finland for some time now...
...Meanwhile, the Finns will have to continue their wait-and-see policy in the hope that Moscow will come through with a belated invitation for trade talks, or that the West will step in to help alleviate Finland's economic problems...
...Along with the diplomatic and economic "freeze," Soviet and Finnish Communist papers launched a strong propaganda campaign against the Fagerholm Government...
...They could accomplish the latter very neatly without taking on any real responsibilities—by acting as "silent partners" in a minority coalition consisting of the Agrarian party and the Left-Socialists...
...About 20,000 people are currently employed in the production of exports to the USSR, around half of them in the shipbuilding industry...
...For although Finnish trade means little to the USSR, Soviet trade amounts to nearly 20 per cent of Finland's foreign commerce...
...It was touched off by mounting economic pressure from the Soviet Union, and by the growing tension within the Cabinet...
...The Fagerholm Government, which included all parties except the Com munists and a Left-Socialist splinter group, has been under Kremlin at tack since taking office in August...
...These groups would need the support of the 50 Communist delegates in the Diet...
...As matters stand at this writing, the Fagerholm Cabinet will continue in a caretaker role—with the exclusion of Virolainen, whose portfolio the Premier has taken over—• until a new government is formed...
...The Finnish Communists, who gained a substantial vote in last July's election, have been excluded from the Government since 1948...
...For about half of its delegates in the Diet privately favored changing the regime to satisfy Finland's eastern neighbor...
...the suspension of talks on Finland's use of the Saima Canal...
...A Finnish trade delegation was ready to leave for Moscow on October 27, but it never took off...
...After all, the principle of "non-intervention in the internal affairs of another state" represents a rather important element in Communist propaganda...
...Moscow's tactics have included the sudden recall of Ambassador V. J. Lebedev...
...And Soviet leaders knew that the longer they stalled, the harder it would be for the Fagerholm Cabinet to stay in office...
...and its failure to discuss further a large ruble credit oifered to Finland last May.But the Soviet move which created the greatest tension in Helsinki was the stall on negotiations for a 1959 Russo-Finnish trade agreement...
...At present, 90 per cent of Finland's exports of sawed timber are moved by non-Finnish shipping, which means a considerable economic loss to the country...
...refusal, on "technical grounds," to sign a fishing agree ment...
...Finland would like to continue its Soviet trade, but the country could get along without it if foreign credits could be obtained to take up the economic slack...
...The success or failure of the Soviet squeeze play on the Fagerholm coalition (which represented a two-thirds majority of the Diet) depended largely on the Agrarian party...
Vol. 41 • December 1958 • No. 46
