The Institute of Finland has finally stopped working in Russia

St. Petersburg has finally lost an organization that was part of a network of 17 scientific and cultural institutions around the world that introduced and promoted Finnish culture in Russia. ANO "Institute of Finland", which turns 30 this year, announced its closure. The non-profit organization has stopped working for an indefinite period, pointing out the impossibility of further activity in St. Petersburg on principled and value grounds.

The decision to close the ANO was made at a meeting of the Board of the Finland-Russia community, which managed the organization's activities. Chief Secretary Niina Sinkko shared this information with the readers of the Finnish edition of Yle. The relevant information was also published on the VKontakte social network page.

Representatives of the organization expressed concern about the situation that arose after the outbreak of military operations by Russia on the territory of a neighboring state on February 25, 2022. Then the Institute of Finland expressed hope for the preservation of ties and dialogue between peoples and people, intending to continue cultural cooperation.

However, after some time, the founder of the ANO decided to temporarily suspend the work of the Institute.

Since April 11, both the main office and the library of the organization, which conducted rich cultural programs with the participation of invited Finnish specialists, have been closed. Festival, exhibition and educational projects were postponed. But the intention to start interacting with the audience again was still preserved at the Institute.

According to the Krasnaya Vesna news agency, the organization was engaged in "nurturing separatists", and its work in Russia should have been banned. Such a message was published in an April editorial comment on the agency's website.

As an argument, the authors of the commentary pointed to foreign funding of the ANO (from the Ministry of Culture and Education of Finland), as well as the Institute's cooperation with Ingermanland organizations. According to the editorial board, by holding one of the exhibitions, the Institute tried to impose a distorted ("Finnish") view of the past of the territory included in the Leningrad region.

The organization itself noted that the reason for the closure was geopolitics.

In the conditions of the disagreements that have arisen between the Russian and Finnish authorities, it has become much more difficult to continue the previous work. "It is not yet clear what the future will bring," Niina Sinko said in her interview.