Security policy Is Niinistö’s initiative a “recipe for destruction” or a “step forward” – HS asked foreign experts what the world’s plan for the presidency is about

Prescription destruction or a step forward?

More than half a year has passed since the president Sauli Niinistö initiated the 2025 summit focusing on “human responsibilities” in Helsinki In his article on Foreign Policy. He praised after that To the evening newspaperthat the response to the meeting has come “from Berlin, Moscow, Washington and Beijing”.

Since then, silent diplomacy has continued, but there has been little public debate on the initiative. Quite other things, such as the crisis in Ukraine, have captured world interest.

Possible the purpose of the summit is to revitalize the “spirit of Helsinki”. It was represented Urho Kekkonen hosted by the OSCE Summit and its decisions in 1975.

Niinistö’s initiative is broader, and China, for example, would be asked to fulfill its “human responsibilities”.

Niinistö counts on taking care of the environment, natural disasters, pandemics and destructive technologies, for example. The term caused some confusion, and Niinistö had to clarify it.

“I’ve been thinking about creating images where human responsibilities would somehow be against human rights. In my thinking, these human responsibilities include the human duty to uphold human rights. I think it is a top concept and not a parallel concept, ”he emphasized to Iltalehti in August.

He also talked about human responsibilities in September At the UN General Assembly, and the subject may also be on the agenda on Wednesday, February 2, when he will address the parliament.

HS asked foreign experts what they thought of Niinistö’s initiative.

Professor Robert van Voren: “Open up two possibilities”

Professor Robert van Voren is a joint venture between the Sakharov Center and the Dutch Helsinki Committee Reviving The Helsinki Spirit program manager. The title of the program, announced in 2019, is reminiscent of Niinistö’s proverbs.

“I was surprised and happy that he took our slogan and made it his own,” van Voren interprets.

“It is hardly a coincidence that we were in contact with many Finnish bodies, such as your Ministry for Foreign Affairs.”

Due to the pandemic, the implementation of the Reviving The Helsinki Spirit program has been postponed to 2023–2025. It is also looking for global answers to climate change, refugee problems and, for example, equality issues.

“This opens up two possibilities. We will focus on the NGO level and your President’s Summit of Heads of State. These levels are combinable, and so must be done. The 1975 summit was a huge stimulus for NGOs across Europe. ”

Two possibilities also follow from the different combinations of summit participants, and one of the possibilities, according to the professor, is appalling.

“If the next U.S. presidential election wins Donald Trump, and also arrive Vladimir Putin and the President of China Xi Jinping, it is a recipe for destruction. They would agree on things over the other ends. ”

According to Niinistö, “human duties” do not eliminate human rights in anyone’s thoughts, but the professor fears it will be otherwise.

“Authoritarian leaders always emphasize people’s responsibilities rather than human rights.”

In 2025, the most powerful superpower may be China’s Xi.

“China is a new colonial power in Africa and also in Russia, where it is gradually taking over Siberia,” van Voren estimates.

“At the same time, we in the West are a receding empire, and China is securing it in a very sophisticated way with its silk road projects. The summit could be more successful if it focused on Europe. “

Of course, the United States may have a democracy-respecting president in 2025 instead of Trump, whether he is a Democrat or a Republican.

“And then the summit can be a step forward.”

Researcher Angela Romano: “Couldn’t this be done within the UN framework?”

Investigator Angela Romano The University of Glasgow has kept the spirit of Helsinki in its books, such as From Detente in Europe to European Detente: How the West Shaped the Helsinki CSCE (Lang, 2009).

The Helsinki Summit of 1975 was the result of two years and eight months of negotiations. It was only agreed when all countries were ready to sign the results, Romano recalls.

“The same preparation time must be given to diplomats around the world even now, or the summit will remain just a statue of alpha males,” he estimates.

The theme of “human responsibilities” is better suited to Romano than to other interviewees.

“In a word, it creates a comfortable room for friends and foes to discuss things.”

However, he warns against “meeting fatigue”.

“There are far too many big meetings where you can’t get anywhere. Couldn’t this revival of the spirit of Helsinki be done within the framework of the UN? ”

Professor Xuewu Gu: “Friends of Finland cause problems”

Professor Xuewu Gu is the founder of the Institute of International Relations at Tongji University in Shanghai and a professor at the University of Bonn, Germany.

“The world needs the spirit of Helsinki, where countries with different cultural backgrounds and political systems can work together,” he admits.

Niinistö also wants those with the least mutual understanding at the same table, but “Friends of Finland” can cause problems, according to Gun.

“I mean those who want to divide the deeply globalized world in accordance with their increasingly ideological guidelines.”

Gu refers to Joe Biden to host a “summit of democracies” in December, to which 111 countries but not China and Russia were invited. Finland also spoke at the meeting.

“The Democracy Summit was a apt example of the problems President Niinistö must overcome if he wants to make a global impact,” Gu argues.

The theme of human responsibilities suspects a Chinese professor.

“Different countries understand the word from different perspectives, which can lead to a big contradiction. World peace would be a more comprehensive and less controversial key theme. ”

How realistic is China’s participation in the summit?

“I believe that Finland’s soft influence will overcome any difficulties and bring the world back together. However, it can only succeed if all countries, especially the great powers, can subordinate their values ​​to the most important value, world peace. ”

Human Rights Watch’s Måns Molander: “Democracies set an example”

Human Rights Organization Human Rights Watch is originally called Helsinki Watch. Nordic Director of the Organization Måns Molander calls on the democracies to take a firm stand in the run-up to this Helsinki summit as well.

“It must be made very clear what democracy means and requires. The Biden-hosted summit provided a tool for this, as countries pledged to deliver on their promises to strengthen democracies, and this will be monitored. ”

According to Molander, democracies must set an example in solving the problems of our time.

“Democracies have failed, for example, to guarantee access to vaccines for poor countries. There is also room for improvement in tackling the environmental crisis. ”

According to Molander, China is the biggest challenge to Niinistö’s goals.

“China in Hong Kong provided a model for how the fundamental pillars of democracy. such as a free press and an independent judiciary can be crumbled. Now Ethiopia and Rwanda are copying the Chinese model. ”

Molander estimates that Niinistö would not have written a very similar initiative in the midst of the crisis in Ukraine.

“There is now work to be done to make Russia remember and adhere to the ten principles of the OSCE meeting. That, too, would be something. ”