Pressures and profits of a special relationship with the Soviets
The editorial in Pravda last Friday was as unsubtle as it was intrusive. It noted that Finland (pop. 4.8 million) must choose a new President in January to succeed Urho Kekkonen, 81, who stepped down from the office last month after 25 years, for reasons of ill health. Then the Soviet Communist Party's official newspaper baldly proclaimed its own favorite candidate for Kekkonen's job: Ahti Karjalainen, 58, acting president of the Bank of Finland, a member of Kekkonen's Center Party and a onetime protege of the ex-President.
The endorsement was carefully...
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