Former Finnish Prime Minister Marin: We share a border with Russia, one of the longest borders with Russia, over 1,300 kilometers. We have a very, very bloody and very difficult history with Russia. And now, Finland has been rated the happiest country in the world for nearly 10 consecutive years. Ukraine is fighting on the front lines for all of us, for all our values, and all of this is extremely heartbreaking.

Open a map of Europe and you'll see a border stretching over 1,300 kilometers between eastern Finland and Russia, extending from the Baltic Sea coast to near the Arctic Circle. On the other side of this border is Russia, vastly different in size.
Around the world, there are not many countries like Finland that directly border Russia and still manage to thrive.
More interestingly, this country has been ranked the happiest country in the world for nine consecutive years by the UN World Happiness Report, firmly sitting in the top spot without moving.
At that time, Finland had a national population of just over four million, and it managed to withstand the onslaught of a Soviet million-strong army. Although it was eventually forced to cede more than 10% of its territory and over 400,000 people were displaced, it also cost the Soviet army hundreds of thousands of heavy casualties.