Finland stayed out of NATO for a long time, joining in 2023. The president is now calling on the alliance to focus on “deterrence and defense” against Russia.
Helsinki/Moscow – Since the Ukraine war was initiated by Vladimir Putin with the invasion of Russian troops in February 2022, concerns about further large-scale attacks from Moscow have also grown in Russia’s other neighboring countries. The fear that Putin’s territorial claims could lead him to launch new wars of aggression developed in Belarus and Kazakhstan in a similar way to that in the Baltic states.
Since then, people in Scandinavia have also been increasingly concerned about the Kremlin. Above all in Finland, which shares a border of around 1,340 kilometers with its eastern neighbor. A trend that has increased again since Finland’s new President Alexander Stubb took office in March. Since then, Stubb has been demanding more often a rigorous approach to Vladimir Putin. Now Finland’s president has attracted attention with a statement about the role of NATO.
Finland’s President Stubb: Threat to NATO comes “mainly from Russia”
During a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, which was preceded by a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Finland’s Prime Minister Stubb made a fundamental and unashamed statement about the current main concerns of the North Atlantic group of states. Given its current geopolitical environment, NATO will from now on return to the mission with which it was founded on April 4, 1949 in Washington, DC, reports the Ukrainian intelligence service Ukrainian Pravda starting from one Ukrinform-Report on Stubb’s speech.
“I am firmly convinced that we are now witnessing how NATO 3.0 is being created,” emphasized the Finnish President during his speech in Brussels. “We are returning to NATO’s original role as a deterrent alliance and a strong military alliance, as the threat comes from the east, mainly from Russia,” he added.
Stubb calls on NATO to work on “deterrence and defense”.
There is currently a common understanding of complex security policy challenges within the NATO alliance, which all members of the alliance are aware of. “I think it is now extremely important that we work on both: deterrence and defense,” concluded Finland’s acting president.
Stubb also made it clear that Finland is currently actively involved in solidarity initiatives and in improving the command structures within the alliance. According to Stubb, Finland will be part of a joint NATO command in Norfolk, Virginia, together with the United States and northern allies. The aim is to establish a powerful ground component within its own armed forces. Finland is also working with Sweden on the conception of an advanced country group to strengthen NATO’s northern flank.
“Based on the strength of our armed forces, I would argue that we will be a security provider and not one actively asking for this type of support. Of course we have seen that the alliance states are very willing to help us with this,” said the Finnish President at the end of his speech.
Finland decided to join NATO after the start of the Ukraine war
Finland has only been a NATO member since April 4, 2023, making it the youngest member of the alliance alongside Sweden. Together with Sweden, Finland decided to join the North Atlantic Association of States after Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. A step that is an immense one in the Scandinavian states, which have historically been concerned with international neutrality.
This also becomes clear when looking at the public mood among Finns regarding NATO accession, and how approval in society changed after Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine compared to the time before the Ukraine war. As the Federal Center for Civic Education (bpb), public support for Finland joining NATO before the Ukraine war was around 25 percent. However, after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it quickly rose to over 70 percent.
#Finland #announces #NATO