SEEING RUSSIA THROUGH FINNISH EYES

uExpress, July, 2009 by Georgie Anne Geyer

HELSINKI -- Here on the borders of the old Soviet empire -- in this remarkable nation that only in 1991 finally freed itself from its curious half-dependence upon Moscow -- one can still often learn more about Russia than in Russia itself.

Thus, as President Obama makes an important visit this week to Europe and to the Eastern bloc, with much of his attention riveted upon our dimming relations with Russia, one might do well to keep one's ears open in Helsinki.

In 1988, for instance, I was talking with two diplomats in the Finnish foreign ministry and one suddenly burst out: "The Russian debt to us is now 500 million rubles. At its height, it was up to 800 million! In our negotiations, we tell them ... 'We're a small country -- we can't subsidize a...

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