President Paasikivi, however, received him and wrote in his memoirs: "I explained my own view and the position of Finland. He understood it well. Schuman is indeed an intelligent and charming man". Today, this episode seems to have been long ago. Europe was divided into two hostile blocks. Finland followed European construction from a distance, if at all.
The destiny of this country has always been linked to the relations between great powers. We have been "a land in between". Also culturally, Finland shows many influences. We have got much through Stockholm, and from famous German university towns. Architecturally, the neo-classic centre of Helsinki resembles St. Petersburg.