From what I have read about this Finnish statesman, he was born in what has become Russian occupied territory, part of what the Finns have long considerd Historic Finland. His position on the "return of Karelia" was that it was not important enough to make a fuss.
Okay, most of the Finns who lived there left when they had the chance, and the Finnish speaking minority is swalllowed up by a Russian majority that replaced the Finns and Finn-Swedes who lived their before WWII. To get Karelia back means a few hundred thousand Russian speakers, a prospect he doesn`t enjoy. Some Finns, of course, disagree.
We have a similar issue, but unlike the Finns, we have returned to the Historic Land of Israel. That`s where the similarity ends. The Finn imagines that it`s still the same, but Russian peasants raised in an country that had no religion, is not the same as a population of Islamic Arabs who have irridentist ambitions for the State of Israel.
Somebody has to tell them that. |
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