Monday, October 6, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Finnish military leaders want to re-militarize the Åland Islands

The new cold war

Published 19 April 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Pekka Toveri wants to see the militarization of Åland, despite its internationally demilitarized status. On the right, the harbor in the central town of Mariehamn.
3 minute read

Up to half of the candidates in the parliamentary elections as well as former top military officers in Finland have expressed a desire to abolish the special international status of the autonomous Åland Islands as a demilitarized zone.

However, the statements are simultaneously being dismissed by experts in international law and also by Åland’s experts in the field.

If it should ever become relevant, there must first be an initiative from the government, which must then be dealt with internationally, says Roger Nordlund, former speaker of the Ålandic parliament and Chairman of the Åland Islands Peace Institute.

Before the parliamentary elections in Finland in early April, almost half of the candidates in the Finnish state channel Yle’s election compass stated that they wanted to abolish the demilitarized status of Åland. Among those is former General Pekka Toveri, the Defence Forces’ Chief of Intelligence for 2019-2020, who was also elected to parliament for the right-wing National Coalition Party, which is now in the process of forming a new government.

Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, a combination of Stalinist terror and looting, has shown that it does not shy away from brutal and criminal methods. Therefore, my opinion on abolishing demilitarization has been further strengthened in the past year, Toveri tells the Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.

Ex-colonel Kjell Törner, commander of the Uusimaa Brigade 2014-2017, also expresses a desire to abolish the demilitarization, while the former commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, General Jarmo Lindberg, partly agrees.

In this situation, when Finland’s security policy is in great upheaval, I believe that all aspects that promote the country’s security should be openly reviewed and discussed, Lindberg tells Hufvudstadsbladet.

The Åland Islands Peace Institute, which focuses on peace research based on Åland’s special international status, expresses itself in diplomatic terms about the demands for re-militarization of Åland. The institute’s chairman Roger Nordlund, former Åland head of government and speaker of the Åland parliament, tells the public radio Ålands Radio that, he is not surprised by the call from Finnish politicians to militarize Åland in light of the general change in public opinion over the past year.

We have to think about the environment we are living in right now with the Ukraine war and the enormous change in the Finns’ view of NATO, for example, from a minority in favor of NATO membership that in a short time changed to a strong majority in favor of Finland joining NATO. I think these things are somewhat connected, says Nordlund.

Roger Nordlund on the left together with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Åland’s Vice President Katrin Sjögren during Marin’s visit to Åland in March. Photo: Government of Finland/CC BY 2.0

To abolish demilitarization, Finland would have to notify all ten states of the 1921 Convention on Åland, as well as Russia. However, given the international law surrounding Åland’s status, Roger Nordlund does not believe that it is possible in practice to re-militarize Åland.

In peacetime, I think it is almost impossible to remilitarize Åland, but if it should ever become relevant, there must first be an initiative from the government, which must then be dealt with internationally. Then you have to remember that Russia is also a party to this, and you probably want to avoid that discussion as long as possible, he says.

International law expert Ove Bring describes demands to change Åland’s status as “unrealistic” and says that there are no signs that NATO will demand the militarization of the islands in connection with Finland’s entry into the military alliance.

There are no such signals at all, and the Finnish government has reminded NATO that Åland is demilitarized, says Bring in a comment to the Swedish newspaper DN.

Painting of the negotiations on the Åland issue at the League of Nations in Geneva in 1921.

Facts: Demilitarization of Åland

Åland's demilitarization and autonomy is the result of a conflict between Sweden and Finland that was resolved diplomatically in 1921 in the predecessor of the United Nations - the League of Nations - a solution that later became known as the Åland Model. The background was Finland's recent independence from Russia in 1917 and the so-called Åland Movement, which worked for Åland's accession to Sweden, something that was also seen as desirable by Sweden, primarily for military strategic reasons, as the islands are situated very close to Stockholm.

Åland became an autonomous part of Finland, with international guarantees from major powers such as Britain, France and Russia to preserve its Swedish language and culture. The demilitarization of Åland after the Crimean War in 1856 was also consolidated as a guarantee to Sweden that there would be no military activity or fortifications on the islands.

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Finland faces multimillion lawsuit over illegal boarding of Eagle S

The new cold war

Published 3 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The Eagle S was dramatically boarded on Christmas night 2024 – an action that the court has now determined lacked legal basis.
4 minute read

Helsinki District Court rules that Finland lacked jurisdiction to prosecute the crew of oil tanker Eagle S.

Harsh criticism is now directed at authorities’ boarding of the vessel in international waters – an action that risks becoming very costly for Finnish taxpayers.

The ruling from Helsinki District Court is a heavy setback for Finnish authorities who dramatically boarded the oil tanker Eagle S in international waters last year. The district court establishes that Finland simply lacked the right to prosecute the crew for the alleged cable breaks.

Captain Davit Vadatchkoria and officers Robert Egizaryan and Santosh Kumar Chaurasia were charged with aggravated sabotage and aggravated disruption of postal and telecommunications traffic. The charges also included alternative, lesser criminal classifications: sabotage, aggravated vandalism and causing public danger.

But since the cable breaks – which involved five underwater cables – occurred outside Finland’s territorial waters, Finnish criminal law cannot be applied, the court states.

“International waters – period”

Lawyer Herman Ljungberg, who represents shipping company Caravella FZ LLC, has consistently argued that the action was illegal.

— The damage occurred in international waters, period. Therefore Finland has nothing to do with the matter. Only the flag state, in this case the Cook Islands, has jurisdiction, he tells Svenska Yle.

Ljungberg goes further and calls the incident an illegal hijacking.

— The boarding should absolutely be investigated. We already filed a police report about the boarding at an earlier stage, but it was left without investigation, he says.

District court refers to maritime law convention

In its ruling, the district court states that the incident was an accident and refers to articles in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The court does note that the act according to the charges had caused “exceptionally large” economic damage, but still establishes that a Finnish court cannot try the case.

The court’s conclusion underscores the inappropriateness of the authorities’ actions: They boarded a vessel in international waters, held it for over two months and brought charges – despite lacking jurisdiction.

Taxpayers will pay the bill

The direct cost of the failed legal process already amounts to €193,000 in legal costs that the Finnish state must reimburse the three acquitted defendants.

But that could be the beginning of a significantly more expensive bill. The shipping company is preparing extensive damage claims.

— It could involve damages of tens of millions of euros. The shipping company believes the Finnish state owes them money due to the illegal hijacking of the vessel, says Ljungberg.

He points to the cargo – primarily unleaded gasoline – allegedly being damaged during the months the vessel was held, as well as lost rental income while the ship stood idle outside Sköldvik, Finland.

“Shadow fleet” – a loaded term without clear definition

The case has been characterized by strong words and dramatic headlines. When the EU introduced new sanctions in May 2025 against what is called “the Russian shadow fleet,” Eagle S was placed on a list of so-called shadow vessels.

The term “shadow vessel” or “shadow fleet” is used by politicians and in media, but there is no unified, official definition of what is meant. The concept generally seems to refer to older vessels with complicated ownership structures that transport Russian oil, possibly to circumvent international sanctions.

That a vessel appears on the EU’s sanctions list does not, however, affect the question of jurisdiction. In the Eagle S case, the court establishes that Finland lacked the right to prosecute the crew, regardless of the vessel’s status as a listed shadow ship.

What happens now?

The prosecutors, represented by Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe, have not yet commented on the ruling. Rappe has previously unsuccessfully tried to justify why Finland should have jurisdiction:

— In this case, the cable capacity has been so large that in my opinion it is clear that data communication and the electrical system have been affected in Finland. Therefore the act is considered to have been performed in Finland even though the location where the cables were cut lies outside Finnish borders, Rappe told Svenska Yle in August.

Now prosecutors face the choice of appealing to the Court of Appeal or accepting defeat.

It is also possible that the Cook Islands, as flag state for Eagle S, chooses to take over the investigation – if they would even consider there is a case to investigate.

For the three crew members, who spent months in Finland with travel bans and obligations to report to police weekly, the matter is now over. But for the Finnish state and taxpayers, the consequences of the hasty boarding could prove far more costly than those responsible originally imagined.

Norwegian-led training base for Ukrainian soldiers opened in Poland

The new cold war

Published 2 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
EU representatives visit Camp Jomsborg during the opening ceremony.
2 minute read

A Norwegian-led training center for Ukrainian troops has opened in southeastern Poland. Camp Jomsborg can accommodate up to 1,200 soldiers at a time and will focus on drone warfare.

The facility in Nowa Dęba-Lipa was inaugurated on Wednesday in the presence of defense ministers from Norway and Estonia, as well as representatives from Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark.

Camp Jomsborg, built by engineers from Norway’s Brigade Nord, represents another escalation of Western support for Ukraine since the war with Russia broke out in 2022. Poland has since become a central hub for logistics and training of Ukrainian forces.

According to Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the training will be conducted by instructors from allied NATO countries, with particular focus on modern drone technology.

— There is no other army in the world as well trained in drones and counter-drone systems as Ukraine’s, he claimed at the inauguration ceremony.

Around 250 Norwegian soldiers are already stationed at the site, and five rotations of 500 troops each are planned for next year. Estonia has also sent personnel, and more nations are expected to follow.

“Not a one-way street”

Kosiniak-Kamysz argued that the cooperation not only benefits Ukraine, but that the allied countries also benefit from Ukrainian combat experience.

— This is not a one-way street. An important element is that we will draw on Ukrainian experience. Right next to us is a drone launch strip, the defense minister said.

He emphasized that the base symbolizes NATO countries’ unity and claimed that “peace requires strength, skill, training, a well-prepared army, a strong alliance and resilient societies”.

On the same day as the inauguration, EU leaders agreed to create a so-called “drone wall” along the bloc’s eastern flank, following claims from Poland and Estonia about Russian airspace violations. Moscow has dismissed the accusations as groundless and accused the EU of trying to incite a war against Russia.

Hungary: Brussels prepares for war – and Europeans will pay the price

The new cold war

Published 2 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó sounds the alarm: EU leadership under Ursula von der Leyen is sacrificing Europe for Ukraine.
2 minute read

“Brussels is preparing for war and they want Europeans to pay the price”, writes Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in a harsh attack against the EU’s new seven-year budget.

He warns that the union’s power holders are prioritizing Ukraine’s military over Europe’s own and very urgent problems.

In the post, published ahead of the informal EU summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, Szijjártó emphasized that Europe’s security and economic situation has deteriorated sharply as a result of failed decisions in Brussels.

“Brussels is preparing for war, and they want Europeans, including Hungarians, to pay the price. The proposed budget for the next seven years is much more about Ukraine than about the European Union itself”, wrote Szijjártó.

He described the draft as “a Ukraine budget”, focused on arming the country and keeping its state structure alive, while Europe’s own urgent needs are neglected. Instead, Brussels should address declining competitiveness, secure energy supply, and rebuild the foundations for European growth, he argued.

“But instead, the European Commission wants to send European taxpayers’ money – including Hungarians’ money – to Ukraine, to finance the Ukrainian state and military”, the minister warned.

Wants to see “patriotic shift”

Szijjártó emphasized that Hungary rejects the idea that the country’s citizens’ money should be used for war efforts.

“We don’t want Hungarian taxpayers’ money to be sent to Ukraine, we don’t want it to be spent on war, and we don’t want it to cover the arming and operation of the Ukrainian military”, Szijjártó explained further.

The minister concluded by stating that the EU can only change course if a “patriotic shift” occurs in Brussels.

“Until then, Brussels will remain committed to pro-war, pro-migration, and pro-gender policies. But we don’t want war, we don’t want migration, we don’t want gender madness, and we don’t want Hungarians’ money to be siphoned off to Ukraine”, he wrote.

The day before Szijjártó’s statement, on September 30, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán directed harsh criticism at Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in a post on X.

“Dear Donald Tusk, You may think that you are at war with Russia, but Hungary is not. Neither is the European Union. You are playing a dangerous game with the lives and security of millions of Europeans. This is very bad!” Orbán emphasized.

Stoltenberg’s call: Sacrifice welfare to stop Putin

The war in Ukraine

Published 1 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Jens Stoltenberg meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
2 minute read

Norway’s finance minister and former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says that Western Europe must continue sending billions to Ukraine – even if this comes at the expense of citizens’ healthcare and welfare.

— I know that one additional billion to Ukraine or one billion extra to national defense is one billion less to other good purposes like health, education and infrastructure. But we must remember that the highest cost is to let Putin win, said Stoltenberg during the conference Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg, who led the US-led military alliance from 2014 to 2024, is now Norway’s finance minister and during the forum he revealed that Norway under his leadership has tripled military support to Ukraine and significantly increased its own defense spending.

His statements align with the military alliance’s current Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who has previously urged member countries to cut welfare in order to increase support to Kiev further.

Stoltenberg was NATO chief when the Ukraine conflict escalated into a full-scale war in February 2022. Even before the invasion, he had pushed for Ukrainian NATO membership and NATO-adapted infrastructure in the country – measures that according to Russia provoked the war.

“Starting to talk about a third world war”

After the 2022 invasion, Stoltenberg intensified demands that Ukraine should be admitted to the alliance and urged member countries to increase their military and financial support to the country.

Several Western European governments have dramatically increased their military spending over the past year, citing the alleged threat from Russia. At the same time, many European countries are struggling with strained welfare systems and demands for savings at home.

Moscow categorically denies plans to attack NATO or EU countries and claims that these allegations are used as a pretext to justify military investments at the expense of welfare.

— Some officials in NATO and the EU are beginning to seriously talk about a third world war as a potential scenario, warns Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, accusing the West of fueling anti-Russian hysteria.

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