06-05-2025
How Finland stayed under Russian control long after the Cold War
At first, the letter reads less like a secret message from a Russian spy chief to a senior Finnish official than the continuation of an affectionate exchange between two old friends.
With oily finesse, Yevgeny Primakov, the director of Moscow's SVR foreign intelligence service, flatters the Finn as being 'exceptionally influential' and burbles on about his hopes that the two nations will form a precious 'island of stability' in Europe.
Then Primakov's tone takes on a menacing edge. The head of the Finnish security police, he complains, has been very rude about the activities of Russian intelligence. He is misleading the public and damaging bilateral relations.
Primakov met President Clinton at the White House in 1997
BARBARA KINNEY/WHITE HOUSE/CONSOLIDATED NEWS PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES
It is all dreadfully uncouth and old-fashioned. Perhaps, Primakov suggests, his friend might have a discreet word about it
