The ban on placing troops on the Åland Islands and building forts there was one of the conclusions of international treaties concluded by Russia after the defeat of the Crimean War (conflict between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, 1853–1856). At the time, the imperial regime that ruled Finland at the time could not control the Gulf of Bothnia, on the other bank of which is Sweden.
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Since then, however, the international situation has changed and there are fears that treaties banning the deployment of military forces on the islands could be abused by Russia, which could control them.
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“He is the Achilles heel of the Finnish defense,” said Professor and former adviser to Finnish President Alpo Rusi. His words are exaggerated, although the archipelago may continue to block the Gulf of Bothnia, but it is less important today, because it lies 400 kilometers away from the Russian ports in the Gulf of Finland.
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The problem, however, is that this threat, exacerbated by the Russian consulate on the islands, is difficult to eliminate. Many of the island’s 30,000 Finnish-speaking Finns want to maintain neutrality in Åland. They think it will be safer for them.
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“I think being demilitarized is a stabilizing factor in the Baltic Sea region,” Veronica Autonomous Prime Minister Veronica Thornroos told AFP. She believes that in the event of a Russian attack, Finland would be able to start defending the islands fought in the First and Second World Wars. However, Professor Rusi is not sure in the event of a sudden attack.
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However, Finland does not yet change the status of the Åland Islands.
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