Estonia–Finland relations are the

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The independent Republic of Finland, established in 1917, and the independent Republic of Estonia, established in 1918, established diplomatic relations and formally recognised each other in 1920. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were interrupted during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and officially restored on 29 August 1991. Finland has an embassy in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. Estonia has an embassy in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. Both countries are full members of the

Council of the Baltic Sea States The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: regional identity; regional safety and security; regional sustainability and prosperity. These three priority areas aim ...

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...

. Finland has given full support to Estonia's membership of the

. Estonia also has strongly supported Finland's

membership. The majority of languages in both countries are Finnic languages, as Finland's main language, Finnish, is related to

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

, and there is and has been a certain feeling of kinship. 76% of Finns have visited Estonia, and in 2004, 1.8 million Finns reported visiting Estonia. The excise tax on alcohol is lower in Estonia than in Finland, thus it is common to buy large volumes of alcohol when returning from Estonia: a study in 2014 indicated that 34% of alcohol sold in Estonia is bought by Finns. Finnish and Swedish investors are the largest foreign investors in Estonia. Both Finland and Estonia are members of the

Schengen agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

and the

, freeing international travel and trade between the countries. Finland is Estonia's top import partner, accounting for over 15% total import value in 2012, as well as the second-greatest market for Estonia's exports after Sweden. Finland's government recognised Estonia's independence in 1920. In response to the Soviet invasion, diplomatic missions were ''de facto'' removed. However, when Estonia restored its independence, this "temporary obstruction" was resolved. During the restoration of Estonia's independence, Finland secretly contributed with significant economic aid and know-how under the cover of "cultural co-operation" in order to not upset the Soviet Union. Finland continues to contribute militarily, such as officers' training, and the provision of equipment. FinnVlntrsTllnnDc1918

Estonian_volunteers_in_finland_in_the_continuation_war

History

The origins of the

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

and

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

date back to the early

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. Both populations trace their roots to Finno-Ugric tribes that settled north and south of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

from

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

in the 1st millennium BC at the latest. Linguistically, Finnish and Estonian belong to the Finno-Ugric group of the

Uralic language family The Uralic languages ( ), sometimes called the Uralian languages ( ), are spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers ab ...

. Despite their linguistic proximity, the peoples developed independently of each other, with the Estonians coming into closer contact with Germanic and

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

groups at an early stage. Archaeological finds and

runestones A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

prove that active trade and cultural exchange between present-day Estonia and southern Finland already existed in the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

(8th–11th century). In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, both peoples came under foreign rule – From the 13th century onwards, Estonia and Finland came under different foreign rulers: while Estonia gradually fell under Danish, later German-Baltic and finally

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

control, Finland was completely under Swedish rule from 1323 onwards. With the

Treaty of Nystad The Treaty of Nystad, or the Treaty of Uusikaupunki, was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of Russia and the Swedish Empire on in the then Swedish town of Nystad (, in th ...

in 1721, Estonia became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Finland followed with the

Treaty of Fredrikshamn The Treaty of Fredrikshamn, or the Treaty of Hamina, was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Imperial Russia on 17 September 1809. The treaty concluded the Finnish War and was signed in the Finnish town of Fredrikshamn ( Hamina). Russia ...

in 1809. In the 19th century, national movements arose in both countries, promoting their own languages and cultures. This connection created an awareness of mutual kinship, with ideas of

Pan-Finnicism Pan-Finnicism (), also known as Pan-Fennicism or sometimes even referred to as Finno-Ugrism or even heimoaate () is a Pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist idea which advocates for the political or economic unification of the Finno-Ugric languages, Fi ...

developing. In the wake of the collapse of the Russian Empire after the

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

I, two independent nation states emerged. Finland declared its independence in 1917, followed by Estonia on February 24, 1918. The two countries supported each other in their early struggles for independence: around 3,000–4,000 Finnish volunteers fought in the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

(1918–1920) on the side of Estonia and in the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

of 1944, many Estonian volunteers enlisted in the Finnish army in return. After the Treaty of Dorpat, Finland was the first country to recognize Estonia on June 8, 1920. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, both countries established close cultural and economic ties and also cooperated secretly on military matters against a possible attack by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. During the

II, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union, severing official ties. Although Finland remained independent, it was under strong Soviet influence during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and could not openly challenge Estonia's annexation. Nevertheless, many Finns and Estonians maintained informal contacts; Finnish radio and television broadcasts were received in northern Estonia until the 1980s, forming a “window to the West” behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

. In the late 1980s, Finland secretly supported Estonia's efforts to regain its freedom. President

Mauno Koivisto Mauno Henrik Koivisto (, 25 November 1923 – 12 May 2017) was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 19 ...

provided a total of over 100 million

Finnish markka The markka (; ; currency symbol, sign: mk; ISO 4217, ISO code: FIM), also known as the Finnish mark, was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The markka was divided into 100 penny, pennies ...

to the Estonian independence movement, including expert assistance in establishing a

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...

, even before the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. After Estonia regained its independence in 1991, diplomatic relations were immediately reestablished. Finland and Estonia cooperated in building democratic institutions and a strong modern economy in Estonia. Since then, the two countries have maintained close contacts at all levels and often coordinate their foreign policy in the Baltic Sea region and in Europe. Finland was one of the strongest supporters in Europe of Estonia's accession to the EU, which took place in 2004. In 2020, both countries celebrated the 100th anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations. The

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

alarmed both countries, which stepped up their military cooperation. In 2023, Finland abandoned its long-standing foreign policy of

neutrality Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...

and joined NATO, which Estonia had already joined in 2004. Hotel Viru 1971

Unification proposals

, the idea of a unified

Greater Finland Greater Finland (; ; ) is an irredentist and nationalist idea which aims for the territorial expansion of Finland. It is associated with Pan-Finnicism. The most common concept saw the country as defined by natural borders encompassing the ter ...

gained popularity and influence rapidly in 1917, but lost support after

and the

. In 1917, 1918 and 1940, the

...

president

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts ( – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president from 1938 to 1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades p ...

wished for a union of Finnic countries in his political testament, writing an outline of a unification plan. He used the term "soomesugu" in Estonian to point to the people and countries of Finland and Estonia when talking about common border law.

Anthem

The Finnish anthem

Maamme "" (), known by its original Swedish language, Swedish title as "" () and in English language, English as "", is the ''de facto'' national anthem of Finland. The music was composed by the German people, German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with orig ...

and the similarly themed Estonian anthem

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm "" is the national anthem of Estonia, originally adopted in 1920 (readopted 1990). The lyrics were written by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and are contrafactum, set to a melody composed in 1848 by Fredrik Pacius, which is also that of the Finland, Fi ...

(My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy, 1869) share the same melody. This song is also considered to be the ethnic anthem of

Livonians The Livonians, or Livs, are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to the Livonian Coast, in northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian language, Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish lan ...

, titled

Min izāmō, min sindimō Min or MIN may refer to: Places * Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China ** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian * Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China * Min River (Fujian) * Min River (Sichuan) * Mineola (Amtra ...

(My Fatherland, My Native Land).

Regional cooperation

Both Finland and Estonia are members of the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples Finnish and Swedish investors are the largest foreign investors in Estonia. Both Finland and Estonia are members of the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

and the

. Finland is Estonia's fourth greatest import partner, accounting for 8.48% of its imports between 2017 and 2021, as well as the greatest market for Estonia's exports, accounting for 12.2% of Estonia's exports. In July 2022, Estonia fully approved Finland's application for

NATO membership The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an international military alliance consisting of 32 member states from Europe and North America. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Of the 32 member c ...

. Finland contributed and continues to contribute military aid to Estonia, such as officers' training, and the provision of equipment. The

Rail Baltica Rail Baltica is an under-construction rail infrastructure project that is intended to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. Its purpose is to provide passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve ra ...

and

Via Baltica European route E 67 is an E-road running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Estonia and by ferry to Finland. It goes via Prague, Wrocław, Warsaw, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki. The route is known as the Via Baltica ...

, modern rail and road links of vital importance, connecting Finland with Estonia and

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

, remain under construction (as of 2022).

Balticconnector Balticconnector is a bi-directional natural gas pipeline between Ingå, Finland and Paldiski, Estonia operated by Gasgrid Finland and Elering. It connects the Estonian and Finnish gas grids, and provides Finland with access to the Inčukaln ...

is a bi-directional natural gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Both countries are connected by the

Estlink Estlink is a set of HVDC submarine power cables between Estonia and Finland. Estlink 1 was the first interconnection between the Baltic and Nordic electricity markets followed by Estlink 2 in 2014. The main purpose of the Estlink connection is t ...

power cable.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Estonia has an embassy in

. * Finland has an embassy in

. File:Estonian Embassy Helsinki.JPG, Embassy of Estonia in Helsinki File:Embassy of Finland, Tallinn, Kohtu 4.jpg, Embassy of Finland in Tallinn

References

External links

Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Estonia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonia-Finland relations Bilateral relations of Finland