Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1939, Page 531
CHRONIQUE TRIMESTRIELLE
can be expected, and it ought to be
regarded as out of the question that
the Western Powers would be able
to send into the Baltic a fleet strong
enough to force its way past the
Soviet Union’s naval bases in Latvia
and Esthonia into the far end of
the Gulf of Finland and right up
to the waters outside Leningrad.
“Quite independently of the
question of Leningrad’s defence,
the Soviet Union have laid claim
to the part of the Rybachi Penin-
sula belonging to Finland. This has
been done for no other reason than
that, according to the opinion of
the Soviet Union, the present fron-
tier is unskilfully and artificially
drawn. The Finnish Government,
therefore, lacks the premises on
which to judge what military ob-
jects defensive or offensive, the
Soviet Union may have in mind
with their proposal.
“The Soviet Union have applied
for the area in question in exchange
for a considerable area in Repola
and Porajárvi in Northern Soviet
Carelia. This district has quite a
considerable area, but it lacks
strategic importance and, besides
this, the economic value, consider-
mg the quantity of swamps and
niarshes (the peat land is about 50
% of the whole area), the very
sparse population, the wasted
forests and the remote situation, is
comparatively low. Its value as
compensation is therefore much less
than what could be expected from
the area and there is, therefore, no
reason to overestimate its value as
an object of exchange.
“At the present stage of the ne-
gotiations I do not consider it suit-
able to say more than these general
remarks. From them it is clear that
Finland’s point of view differs es-
sentially from that of Soviet Russia.
Yet Finland, during all the phases
of the discussions, has shown wil-
lingness to meet the Soviet Union’s
proposals in so far as they aimed at
strengthening Leningrad’s security
and not at violating Finland’s in-
dependence and neutrality, or in-
juring Finland’s own security.”
November 24th 1939.
Urho Toivola
La campagne antifinlandaise de
la presse et de la radio soviétiques,
qui s’était sensiblement atténuée
vers la mi-novembre, a repris de
plus belle aprés une dizaine de jours
et a atteint son point culminant
dans un article de la Pravda publié
le 26 novembre. Dans cet article,
qui semble avoir été le précurseur
des événements ultérieurs, le prem-
ier ministre finlandais, M. Cajan-
der, fut violemment pris á partie
et traité avec une désobligeance,
voire méme une grossiéreté extra-
ordinaire. C’était, paraít-il, le
premier signe annonfant la décision
des dirigeants soviétiques de ne plus
traiter avec le gouvernement actuel
de la Finlande.