Finland, Sweden + NATO

[Solmyr]

I moved here with my mom from St. Petersburg in 1992 when she married a Finnish man. I was 14 at the time. Not a whole lot more to it. So I'm not an ethnic Finn as such, but a Finnish citizen. Ethnically actually I'm a mix of Russian/Jewish/Ukrainian/Finnish/Baltic.

So in theory you'd be part of the oppressed ethnic Russian minority, yearning to be reunited with the motherland and looking to Putin to protect you interests. In reality, not so much?

In theory, yes.  Actually the Russian embassy in Finland recently asked all Russians here to report incidents of oppression directly to them.

I don't actually have much contact with the Russian community here anyway. Pretty much all my friends and acquaintances are Finnish. I just occasionally go to the Russian shop to get some food that I like (which is made in Estonia, Poland, or Germany anyway). Also sometimes read the monthly Russian newspaper publication here (it's actually rather nice in holding the assumption that Finland is a good place to live, even though it doesn't really mention Russia negatively).

[Solmyr]

Solmyr, IIRC you're a Finn of Russian descent.  Can you tell us a little more about that?  Like how and why your family ended up in Finland?

I moved here with my mom from St. Petersburg in 1992 when she married a Finnish man. I was 14 at the time. Not a whole lot more to it. So I'm not an ethnic Finn as such, but a Finnish citizen. Ethnically actually I'm a mix of Russian/Jewish/Ukrainian/Finnish/Baltic.

If you feel like discussing it...

How are you treated in Finland since, I'm assuming, you must have a Russian accent?  Has it changed since the Ukraine invasion?

I don't really have a Russian accent. I started studying Finnish when I was 10, and even though native speakers can sometimes tell that I'm not one, not many can guess my Russian roots unless I tell them. If anything, my Russian now has a bit of an accent. It helps that I've had a good head for languages and pronunciation and given an example, I can repeat things pretty well.

As for how I'm treated, I've pretty much always been treated with a friendly attitude. No oppression or intolerance or anything. My name is not Russian-sounding though (I changed my surname early on to my father's, which is Jewish but sounds Swedish) and I don't really emphasize my Russianness in any major way. So I guess I've integrated pretty well.

[ulmont]

Strong Tammi of Finland vibes.

What does that mean? Ron Swanson's next wife?

Tom of Finland was a famous artist whose subjects often wore similar leather jackets.  Tammi is one of the more common female variants of Tom.  You do the math.

[mongers]

Swedish airspace violated by a Russian turboprop reconnaissance plane, I think a twin engined Antonov design.

[Legbiter]

Swedish airspace violated by a Russian turboprop reconnaissance plane, I think a twin engined Antonov design.

Toothless seething.

[Jacob]

Swedish airspace violated by a Russian turboprop reconnaissance plane, I think a twin engined Antonov design.

Sweden or Russia?

Toothless seething.

[Legbiter]

Finland will apply for NATO membership in a few days.

Finland will decide to apply for NATO membership on May 12.

[mongers]

Finland will apply for NATO membership in a few days.

Finland will decide to apply for NATO membership on May 12.

[Admiral Yi]

Huzzah!

[Jacob]

Putin remains a master strategist.

[CountDeMoney]

Gaijin de SinkingMoscau

I LOL'd.

[FunkMonk]

 

[Eddie Teach]

They took it to heart when told to fuck themselves.

[The Brain]

Russia has put up posters in Moscow outside the Swedish embassy complaining about famous Swedish "Nazis" from history. Writers, film directors etc. Russia's propaganda game continues to be abysmal.

[Threviel]

Yeah, it's more or less the same thing they did to justify he war in Ukraine. We need to enter Nato yesterday.