When Russia invaded Ukraine, a new iron curtain severed once close ties between Moscow and Helsinki, something Ari Joronen can see quite tangibly on his farm in eastern Finland. "The trees have been cleared because of the new border fence," he says, overlooking part of his property in Imatra that adjoins the Russian border, a few hundred metres from his house. More than a century after it gained independence from Russia and three decades after joining the EU, the Nordic country is now forging a new foreign policy identity, cementing its ties with the West as it takes its final steps toward NATO membership. The government that emerges from Finland's April 2 elections will have to navigate this new era. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES