The KGB and Finland

Finland, seen as painstakingly avoiding any unpleasantness with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, was able to play the innocent, non-threatening neighbour for the KGB. But now it’s accepted that the image of Finland willingly accommodating Moscow’s economic and political ambitious had been a historical distortion and the covert stance that its intelligence and security services held shows its definite Western-leaning posture during a cautious period of its independence.

Supo (The Finnish Security Intelligence Service – Suojelupoliisi), established in 1948 had to appear for Moscow as a non-adversarial agency while maintaining a trustworthy relationship with its Western counterparts. Supo was established to replace its forerunner, Valpo (State police – Valtiollinen poliisi). Valpo was disbanded by the Finnish parliament in 1948, after a government investigation determined that communists who occupied it's leadership positions were involved in serious illegalities, including the disappearance of individuals after WWII.