Foreign policy|The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Kimmo Kiljunen, says that the “value-based realism” defined as the line of Finland’s foreign policy does not really say anything about the content of the policy.
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Kimmo Kiljunen criticizes the value-based realism concept launched by President Alexander Stubb.
According to Kiljunen, the concept doesn’t really say anything about the content of politics.
Stubb launched the concept during his election campaign and has recently used it, for example, at ambassador days.
Kiljunen wants to stimulate discussion about Finland’s foreign policy line.
Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Kimmo Kiljunen (sd) criticizes the president by Alexander Stubb the concept of “value-based realism” launched as a line of foreign policy.
“The biggest problem with the concept is that it doesn’t really say anything about the content of the policy,” says Kiljunen in an interview with HS.
Value based realism is a term originally launched by President Stubb during his election campaign. After his election, he started talking about it as Finland’s line.
The central idea of the concept has been that the world’s problems cannot be solved only with those who agree with Finland. So the realities of politics should be taken into account.
The format has also been adopted in the Government’s foreign and security policy report. According to the report, Finland’s foreign and security policy is based on value-based realism.
Screaming according to the concept does not say anything, because everyone relies on values.
“Even the worst tyrants and the most enlightened statesmen appeal to some values,” he says.
Kiljunen states that there probably won’t be any political actors who use power seriously who don’t look at the surrounding forces and are therefore realists.
To make a point, Kiljunen compares the concept of value-based realism to, for example, the Chinese constitution.
The People’s Republic of China is a “people’s democratic dictatorship” and a “socialist market economy”, he reminds.
In other words, anything goes.
“The reality is a market economy, but we are communists on the value side. The state order respects people’s power as a value, but the reality is that the country is a dictatorship,” Kiljunen reflects.
“China, with its constitution, does not say anything to us. We don’t know anything about China by that definition.”
Stubbs talked about value-based realism, for example, in his speech at the ambassadors’ meeting last week, when he said that Finland is moving from an active stability policy towards value-based realism.
Active stability policy was the president Sauli Niinistön timeline.
Screaming considers that Finland’s line has often been concretely defined in the past.
Such definitions have been, for example, “good neighborly relations”, “peripheral state policy” and “neutrality policy”. This was also the case with, for example, “human rights-based” foreign policy, which was one definition Sanna Marini (sd) in the government’s foreign and security policy report.
In Kiljunen’s opinion, Niinistö’s “active stability policy” is also a concrete guideline.
Kiljunen believes that these formulations say the most essential thing about the goal or the method of operation of the policy being pursued.
Screaming says that he is raising the issue now because he wants to stimulate discussion about Finland’s foreign policy.
The discussion on the theme will also be on Kiljunen’s desk soon, when the foreign affairs committee deals with the foreign and security policy report.
In addition to the interview, Kiljunen provided HS with a larger article in which he discusses the issue.
KiLjunen considers that value-based realism appears as a pragmatic action that “respects lofty values while pursuing narrow personal interests.”
“At worst, it happens that the color of the values doesn’t matter so much, as long as radical interests and dominance are ensured.”
In his opinion, a problem for the credibility of foreign policy is that the defined values and the implemented policy, i.e. reality, are at odds.
In other words, we say one thing and do another.
Kiljunen estimates that President Stubb also recognizes the contradiction.
In his speech a
t the Ambassador’s Days, Stubb stated that values, realism and interests have to be weighed every day in foreign and security policy.
“Are we selling weapons to an authoritarian country that is fighting terrorism? Do we buy the weapons we need from countries whose policies do not match our values? How and on what basis do we allocate our development aid? These are tough questions,” Stubb said.
Screaming when asked, does not take a direct stand on how Finland’s line could be better defined. In his opinion, the most important thing is that the concept of value-based realism is given substance in future cooperation.
Kiljunen considers that the foreign and security policy report has already moved on from the concept launched by Stubb, because the report also defines key values and calls for dialogue.
“It is said that this government’s design is already very much in the direction of what I can identify as a really good design.”
Among other things, it is recorded in the report that Finland adheres to important and central values for us, such as democracy, the rule of law, international law and human rights, peace, equality and equality.
“At the same time, we are ready for dialogue also with countries that do not share our views and values,” it states.
Stubbs himself used a formulation referring to the same in his speech at the ambassadorial meetings.
“I define value-based realism as a collection of universal values arising from freedom, human rights and international rules, which also take into account the realities of global diversity, nation-states, regions and culture, as well as history,” he said.
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