Word: mattie
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...tight-lipped and occasionally melancholic Finns insist that their acquiescence to the Soviets is widely misunderstood abroad. "We are a fiercely independent people," says Matti Khova, managing director of a private Finnish economic research group. "You cannot hurt a Finn more than by saying he is dependent on the Soviet Union." The Finns, who lost two wars and 12% of their national territory to the Soviets between 1939 and 1945, claim that they are simply being "realistic" in their relations with Moscow. As one prominent politician puts it, "When it's useless to do something...