Finlandization is the process by which one powerful country makes a smaller neighboring country refrain from opposing the former's foreign policy rules, while allowing it to keep its nominal independence and its own political system. The term means "to become like Finland", referring to the influence of the Soviet Union on Finland's policies during the Cold War.
Urho Kekkonen and Leonid Brezhnev in 1960 during Kekkonen's state visit to the Soviet Union.
Finland's President Urho Kekkonen, translator Kustaa Loikkanen and General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev talking, at Kekkonen's 60th birthday
In April 1970, a Finnish stamp was issued in honour of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin and the Lenin Symposium held that year in Tampere.
Urho Kekkonen and Juho Kusti Paasikivi
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister, and held various other cabinet positions. He was the third and most recent president from the Agrarian League/Centre Party. Head of state for nearly 26 years, he dominated Finnish politics for 31 years overall. Holding a large amount of power, he won his later elections with little opposition and has often been classified as an autocrat.
Kekkonen in 1975
Urho Kekkonen
Kekkonen was born in a humble, small log cabin called Lepikon Torppa in Pielavesi.
Young lawyer Kekkonen walking near Ateneum, Helsinki, in the early 1930s