At the opening ceremony of his election campaign, Andersson of the Left Alliance criticized Finland’s decision to vote no on the UN resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza.
The Left Alliance chairman, presidential candidate Lee Andersson says that the most important question of the presidential election concerns the line of Finland’s foreign and security policy in the future.
According to Andersson, for example, within the framework of NATO membership, Finland should not uselessly increase tensions or become entangled in power struggles between great powers outside of Europe.
He shared his views on Tuesday at the opening of his presidential election campaign in Helsinki.
According to Andersson, with NATO membership, Finland will also take a stand on many new issues, which can be difficult to predict. As one example of such an issue, Andersson brought up the defense cooperation agreement between Finland and the United States.
“In the future, the defense forces of another country may have direct use of certain areas on Finnish soil,” Andersson said.
“Soldiers can come and go freely, and if problems arise, they will probably be resolved in a US military court and not within the framework of the Finnish judiciary. It’s a big change from today.”
Former Sdp longtime MP Erkki Tuomioja was there when Andersson launched his election campaign.
Andersson also brought up the conflict between Israel and Hamas in his speech. Andersson criticized Western countries for not demanding a ceasefire in Gaza strongly enough.
“The inability of Western countries to clearly and unitedly demand a cease-fire in Gaza looks like an unwillingness and inability to act to avoid the escalation of the war,” Andersson said.
According to Andersson, most Western countries have made a “big strategic mistake” regarding Gaza. He estimates that the continuation of hostilities increases the risk of war escalation in nearby areas. According to Andersson, the rise of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in other countries can also lead to violence.
Andersson said that Finland should have voted in favor of the resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the UN, like Norway. Finland voted no.
“It seems that the Finnish government does not want or know how to use its foreign policy power when it hides behind the backs of other EU countries on such a central issue,” he said.
“Norway is a good example of a country that made a clear value-based policy and acted consistently for human rights and international law.”
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