Scholar details Soviet intelligence threats against former Finnish prime minister

Political science scholar Alpo Rusi has detailed Soviet intelligence activities targeting Finnish political figures around the end of President Urho Kekkonen's era. Writing in Iltalehti, Rusi highlighted covert pressure directed at Keijo Liinamaa, a former prime minister and national conciliator, shortly before his death in 1980.

According to the account, Liinamaa confided to a diplomat that he had received serious threats connected to foreign covert operations aimed at manipulating Finnish domestic politics. Rusi's analysis emphasizes the extent to which Soviet agencies sought to influence the presidential succession process and maintain strategic leverage over Helsinki during the Cold War.

Sources: Iltalehti