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Finland has been safe for centuries and is not afraid of provocations or attacks from neighboring Russia, according to a leading candidate for the Nordic nation’s next president.
Former Finnish Prime Minister Alex Stubbe told the Financial Times that the “triple lock” of a strong military, new NATO membership and a recent defense cooperation agreement with the United States had greatly increased deterrence. .
“Finland is in the safest position throughout its history,” he said. “What we’re doing is building deterrence, and I think we’ve been very successful at that.”
Finnish voters will go to the polls on Sunday to choose who will replace Sauli Niinistö, who will play a leading role in Finland’s foreign and security policy. Stubb is popular in opinion polls and is expected to face former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in the second round on February 11.
According to a survey published by the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper on Monday, Mr Stubb had 22% of the vote intention, followed by Mr Haavisto in second place with 20% and former leader of Finland’s populist party Jussi Halaaho in third place with 18%. Ta. . Polls predicted Mr. Stubb would win both in the second round.
Mr Stubb touted his experience confronting Russia during his eight years in government, including as prime minister, finance minister, foreign minister and EU affairs minister after the 2008 Georgia war.
“The people need to understand that foreign and security policy is always a matter of survival for us,” he said.
Mr Stubb has come under fire from some quarters for his stance on China, arguing that Finland and the EU should “remove risks” but not “decouple” from China. He added, “Many people lump China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran together as some kind of axis of evil. I don’t agree with that analysis. China is seen as part of that axis. I don’t think that’s what they want.”
Asked about the possibility of Donald Trump winning a second term as president of the United States, Stubb said Trump was right to criticize countries for not spending enough on defense.
“There’s a reason we had the fastest NATO negotiations in the history of the alliance. It’s in our military, strategic and political interests for the United States to engage with Finland,” he added.
Finland joined NATO in April last year, less than a year after applying for membership. This feat was accomplished during his time as Foreign Minister, and was triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow issued veiled threats in response, allowing illegal migrants from the Middle East and Africa to cross the border, and Helsinki closed all borders along its 1,340-kilometer-long border.
Other countries in the region, particularly Sweden and Estonia, have been loudly warning in recent weeks about the possibility of war with Russia.
Sweden’s military and civilian emergency officials caused a stir last week when they advised their citizens to stock up on essential goods and prepare for a potential war. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas said earlier this month that Europe needed to prepare for a possible war with Russia over the next three years.
Like Stubbe, Haavisto adopted a much softer Finnish rhetoric in a separate interview with the FT.
“The mood is cautious. We can expect a lot and we can also expect a lot of dirty tricks from the Russian side,” he said, considering decades of preparations for a potential conflict with Russia. Told. “The atmosphere in Finland is that there is nothing new in this. We have seen this Russia before in our history. There is no need to get extremely emotional,” said the former Green. said the minister.
He added that he was “surprised” by the tone of discussions in neighboring Sweden, which has also applied to join NATO but is awaiting approval from Turkey and Hungary.
Haavisto said NATO had made Finland, which already has one of Europe’s largest militaries, “more secure.”