Finland · 50 years as a member of the UN

The United Nations (Vereinte Nationen) emerged at the end of the Second World War as the successor to the League of Nations (Völkerbund). Its Charter was signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945 and entered into force on 24 October of the same year. The tasks established in the Charter include maintaining international peace, the peaceful settlement of conflicts, promoting human rights, and international cooperation on social, economic and humanitarian issues.

Finland’s admission took place against the backdrop of the beginning of the Cold War. After the wars against the Soviet Union and the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, the country had to redefine its foreign-policy position between East and West. Its admission to the UN was delayed by disputes among the great powers over the admission of new members. On 14 December 1955, Finland was finally admitted together with fifteen other states. This so-called package agreement ended a several-year blockade in the Security Council.

Membership provided Finland with a framework in which it could combine its policy of military non-alignment with active multilateral cooperation. As early as 1956, Finnish soldiers took part in the UN’s first armed peacekeeping force, deployed in the Middle East following the Suez Crisis. Peacekeeping, mediation and international conflict resolution subsequently became recurring areas of Finnish UN policy. The later Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari also worked for many years on behalf of the United Nations, including in connection with Namibia’s transition to independence.

The coin issue thus combined a worldwide founding anniversary with a turning point in Finland’s own post-war history. The edge inscription also refers to the country’s two official languages: “YK” is the Finnish abbreviation for *Yhdistyneet kansakunnat*, while “FN” is the Swedish abbreviation for *Förenta nationerna*. This designates the international organisation through both of Finland’s linguistic traditions.