HELSINKI, July 27. /TASS/. Finland has succeeded in building a prosperous state with a high level of social guarantees for a hundred years of independence, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said in an interview with First Deputy Director General of TASS, Mikhail Gusman ahead Vladimir Putin's visit to Finland on Thursday.
"For us, the Finns, it is a really pivotal date. Finland has drastically changed for the hundred years. We have managed to build a wealthy social state in the north. It is great that now President Putin is coming to attend this historical for us event," Niinisto said.
For 100 years of independence, the Finns "have built democracy where equality, law and order matter a lot," he said.
"I believe that those two factors together have paved the way for the population’s confidence in the Finnish system," the president said.
History of Finland’s independence
On December 6, 1917, the Finnish parliament declared the country an independent state. The Soviet Russia recognized Finland’s independence a few weeks later, on December 31. Considering several plans for the future statehood, including its own monarchy, the country opted for a republican government.
Before the Bolshevik revolution and since 1809, the country had been the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire.
Marking the centenary of their independence, the Finns have staged numerous events under the slogan Together. The poll conducted by the national statistics center says that 92% of the Finns are convinced that the nation’ collective work will pave the way for the republic’s successful future.