“Danger is moving,” said President Sauli Niinistö before the start of the Munich Security Conference. According to him, there is a worrisome development going on in the world, which we must try to influence.
Munich
“So as soon as possible, both as members”, said the president, is Finland’s wish for NATO membership to be realized Sauli Niinistö on Friday while meeting Finnish journalists before the start of the Munich Security Conference.
During the weekend, Niinistö will meet several leaders of NATO countries in Munich, as well as the foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (green) and the prime minister Sanna Marin too (sd).
The progress of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership is a subject of great international interest. Finland has organized a meeting with, among others, the US Secretary of State by Antony Blinken with, who continues his journey to Turkey on Sunday.
In addition, Niinistö is meeting at least the heads of state of France, Germany and Great Britain.
In response to the question of what kind of message is being sent to Turkey with US support, Niinistö stated that the connection with the White House has been very close before.
According to Niinistö, Finland has made its will clear to Turkey. It is said that Finland wants to join NATO. It is Turkey’s turn to respond.
“As soon as possible” is Niinistö’s current emphasis on the NATO effort, but he rejected the interpretation that it would actually be a new message.
According to Niinistö, it is normal that “if you want to do something, usually as soon as possible”.
“After all, it’s been a while here.”
From Niinistö was asked: What if Turkey decides to accept Finland before Sweden?
“We do not want and cannot withdraw our application. We have expressed our will, and we cannot give it up,” Niinistö answered.
So Finland would at least not try to prevent progress at a different pace.
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO member countries that have not yet accepted the membership of Finland and Sweden.
Niinistö is prepared to answer the international audience’s questions on the subject, but did not focus on his message separately.
“I am such a simply built person that I wait for what is asked.”
Niinistön according to Finland’s security, the prolongation of the NATO membership process has no effect, and the citizens have nothing to worry about.
“We’ve had more peace than traditionally,” he said.
“The situation in the Baltic Sea, especially in Finland, is quite calm. And yes, this membership will also progress from here.”
According to Niinistö, Finland’s long eastern border and its current exclusion from NATO affect whether Finland will export Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.
In many foreign media, it has been considered a surprise that Finland has not promised to export the wagons despite its activity.
According to Niinistö, Finland is involved in the cooperation, and it is not “any side plot”.
He said that Finland’s arms aid per citizen is very large in terms of money, possibly larger than that of Germany or Poland.
According to Niinistö, the arms aid has probably been a surprise for Russia. What Ukraine needs even more is air defense, Niinistö said. At least he himself has not had discussions about sending fighter jets to Ukraine.
Niinistön As a result of the war of aggression started by Russia, the world is dividing in a dangerous way. There are signs of it all the time.
“The president of Iran is still on a visit to China, there are talks from Russia about how to build relations with certain countries. Danger is moving,” he said.
“If the trunk starts to widen, it’s quite a task to catch it. This is worrying if it comes to that,” he said.
Finland is also trying to influence the matter, for example by trying to meet with a high-ranking Chinese diplomat arriving in Munich Wang Yin with.
“Since last spring, I have wanted to emphasize China’s role and in this war situation in Ukraine, and especially that all of us Europeans should know how to convey a message to China,” he said.
According to Niinistö, China needs to be told that in European democracies the opinion of the people is influential, “as it should be”.
“If it turns out that China is supporting Russia, it will cause a lot of damage to China’s image in Europe.”
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