Finland’s next president responds to President Trump’s hard-line NATO remarks ━ European conservatives

Finland’s newly elected president, Alexander Stubbe of the center-right National Union party, told his country on Monday to “remain calm and focus on strengthening our NATO membership.”

Mr. Stubb’s statement, made at his first press conference after the presidential victory last Sunday, prompted European leaders to say that under President Trump, the United States might adopt a decisively stronger policy. It was released in the midst of a panic. give something in return Approaching military alliances.

Former President Donald Trump, who is expected to be the Republican candidate in November’s US presidential election, said last week that there is no obligation to assist NATO members in the event of an attack from Russia if they “delinquent” on investments. He said he didn’t feel it. He agreed to spend 2% of GDP on defense.

Finland joined NATO in April last year, feeling threatened by the escalating Russian-Ukrainian war in the east.

Explaining Trump’s blunt language to a Finnish audience, Stubb said the U.S. election campaign was “very different from the Finnish election, and the rhetoric used is much stronger.”

Meanwhile, Stubb also expressed sympathy for President Trump’s criticism of NATO members for not honoring their end of the agreement. “I think it’s best at this stage to stay calm and focus on building NATO membership,” he added, noting that Finland has exceeded the 2% target.

“Russia’s aggression and attack on Ukraine has turned the entire European security order upside down,” he said. “We in Europe must ensure that we fulfill our role in NATO. Finland is a country that will continue to do so. We are security providers, not security consumers.”

That is why Finland should play a decisive role in the military alliance, Stubbe said. “We want to be at the center of decision-making and sit around the table where decisions are made,” he said.

As previously reported, european conservativesFinland still boasts an active reserve force of 900,000 military-trained civilians, although it has problems retaining them.

Stubbe, who will take office on March 1, is a strong supporter of Ukraine and has taken a tough stance on Russia, which shares a 800-mile (1,340 km) border with Finland.

“Until Russia ends its war of aggression against Ukraine, it will be very difficult to have relations with Russia,” Stubbe said, reiterating Finland’s new approach to breaking away from its long-standing relationship with its neighbor. expressed. cooperation and trade policies;

In an interview with Reuters last month, Stubb expressed support for deepening NATO cooperation, including allowing the shipment of nuclear weapons throughout Finland and keeping some NATO permanent troops in Finland. However, he does not support keeping nuclear weapons in his country.

In Moscow, Helsinki’s message is being heard loud and clear.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Finland was “currently [Russian] list of unfriendly countries,” because “we are fully in favor of sanctions.” [against Russia] And the president-elect’s comments are of an extremely unfriendly nature. ”

Mr Stubbe said his first foreign trip as president would very likely be to Sweden, in an attempt to calm the country’s growing frustration with Hungary’s pending approval to join NATO.

“Essentially, Sweden is already a member of NATO,” Stubbe said confidently.