Editing Karelian question (section)

== Problems and arguments ==

=== Price ===
[[Image:Svetogorsk.jpg|thumb|right|Blocks of flats built in the Soviet era in [[Svetogorsk]] (Enso)]]
One of the main reasons for opposing the return is the fear of the costs it would bring. According to another poll conducted by ''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'', 42% of Finns opposing the return list that as the most important single reason. The standard of living on the Russian side of the border is much lower than on the Finnish side.{{fact|date=November 2022}} The [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|GDP (PPP) per capita]] in Finland is about double that of Russia.

The costs of bringing Karelia to the same level with the rest of Finland have been researched only by supporters of the idea. According to a survey conducted by ProKarelia, the area has natural advantages that, under Finnish rule, would make it a centre of trade with Russia and industry and thus bring economic growth fast enough to solve the entire problem. According to both ProKarelian research and Arto Lahti's estimate, the price of return would be about 30 billion [[euro]].<ref name="reform">{{Cite web |url=http://www.prokarelia.net/en/?x=reform |title=ProKarelia's Reform |access-date=2006-05-25 |archive-date=2016-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826194200/http://prokarelia.net/en/?x=reform |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.verkkouutiset.fi/cgi-bin/pika/jutut.pl?/arkisto/Arkisto_1999/3.joulukuu/base+1643  Karjalan palauttamisen lasketaan kannattavan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408094839/http://www.verkkouutiset.fi/cgi-bin/pika/jutut.pl?%2Farkisto%2FArkisto_1999%2F3.joulukuu%2Fbase+1643 |date=2008-04-08 }}</ref><ref>Arto Lahti's lecture in Karjala seminar 23 August 2005 [http://prokarelia.net/fi/?x=artikkeli&article_id=656&author=65 abridgement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212102541/http://prokarelia.net/fi/?x=artikkeli&article_id=656&author=65 |date=2016-12-12 }}</ref>

=== Population ===
[[Image:Sortavalan maaseutua.jpg|thumb|Countryside houses. A picture from [[Sortavala]].]]
The area of Karelia ceded to Russia is inhabited mostly by people who moved there from [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]] and Russia, and their descendants. The fate of these people is a major issue in discussions of the return of Karelia to Finland. According to a poll by Finnish newspaper ''Helsingin Sanomat'', 14% of people opposing return said their biggest concern was the tensions that could be caused by a larger Russian-speaking minority in Finland. As of 2004, there were about 370,000 Russians living in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_04_2.htm |title=2004 Russian Census |access-date=2006-05-25 |archive-date=2004-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813144950/http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_01_04_2.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

If the inhabitants were allowed to stay in their homes, Finland would receive a few hundred thousand new Russian-speaking people with no experience of living in Finnish society. If services for them in their own language were to be provided, Finland would need many more officials capable of speaking Russian. In ProKarelia's vision, nearly half of the Russian population in Karelia would be estimated to choose to move to Russia,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://prokarelia.net/en/?x=artikkeli&article_id=1131&author=10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024012814/http://www.prokarelia.net/en/?x=artikkeli&article_id=1131&author=10 |archive-date=2007-10-24 |title=ProKarelia}}</ref> and even more would leave if Finland paid their expenses for doing so.<ref name="reform"/> However, most of the Russian-speaking population of Karelia were born there and have spent all their life in the region.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}