President Niinistö called the withdrawal of Finnish companies from Russia useless

The departure of all Finnish companies from the Russian market did not produce results, President Sauli Niinistö said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper.

“As far as sanctions are concerned, not a single Finnish company is operating in RUSSIA anymore. We are one of the few who did this. Unfortunately, this did not prove to be an effective tool,” he said ( quoted by TASS ).

In an interview with Le Monde, Niinistö also spoke about Finland's accession to NATO. “The Finns feel a significant relief. They feel much safer,” he said.

Finland decided to join NATO after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine . Simultaneously with the Finnish authorities, Sweden applied to join the alliance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke out against the entry of countries into NATO.

After that, Helsinki, Stockholm and Ankara began negotiations to eliminate differences. At the end of June, the countries signed a ten-point tripartite memorandum, according to which Stockholm and Helsinki assumed a number of obligations to ensure Turkey's security guarantees, as well as to lift the arms embargo from it.

In January 2023, Erdogan said that Ankara would not support Sweden's entry into the alliance after Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line, burned a Koran outside the Turkish embassy. In April, Turkey ratified Finland's application separately from Sweden, and the latter became a member of NATO.