Security policy President Vanhanen visits Sweden: Citizens’ support for NATO membership gives mandate to state leadership

Policy|Security policy

Stockholm

In Sweden We are now closely monitoring Finland’s handling of its possible NATO membership, says the Speaker of Parliament Matti Vanhanen (middle).

On Tuesday, Vanhanen visited Stockholm and held talks with, among others, the Swedish Foreign Affairs Committee and the Defense Committee. He also met with the President of Parliament Andreas Norlénin and the King of Sweden Charles XVI of Gustav.

According to Vanhanen, a similar NATO debate has not yet started among the Swedish political leadership as in Finland, where the government has said that it will submit a foreign and security policy report to Parliament in the coming weeks to support the debate.

On the basis of the report, Parliament is considering, among other things, whether Finland should apply for NATO membership.

People in Sweden were interested in this Finnish model, Vanhanen says.

“Of course, it is up to Sweden to decide on the timetable for their debate, but it is easy to say that there is a need for this debate in open democracies like us.”

Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson has stated that Sweden will not apply for NATO membership right now. Non-alignment has been the governing line of the Social Democrats, which has persisted since the Russian invasion.

According to Vanhanen, the story of non-alignment has deep and successful roots in Sweden, which is good to be aware of in Finland.

“Sweden has managed to stay largely out of the two world wars around it, when Denmark, Norway and Finland are in the throes of war. There has been peace in Sweden for 210 years. The perspective is different from ours, which is good to be aware of, ”says Vanhanen.

Vanhanen is not going to assess the impact of the Russian attack on the Swedish Social Democrats.

“However, it is good to understand the nuances and differences in the traditions of diplomacy in the positions of different countries. That being said, what is the current line. And if it is changed, it will be told. ”

Yle on Monday According to a survey published by the Finnish Defense Forces, 62 per cent of Finns support Finland’s accession to NATO.

The figure is 14 percentage points higher than in a NATO survey published by Helsingin Sanomat in early March.

According to Vanhanen, Yle’s survey gives the Finnish state leadership a mandate to consider all possible security policy solutions. In addition, it tells other NATO countries that there is also support from the Finnish people for possible NATO membership.

Vanhanen does not say about his own NATO position, but wants to highlight what was published in 2015 Foreign policythe last paragraph of his book.

The old man digs up his cell phone with a photo of that song he took.

He reads it aloud:

“At the moment, this opinion of those who emphasize stability is prevalent. Hopefully, however, Russia is also aware that its own actions, together with Finns and myself, affect the perception of what non-alignment can and cannot achieve. If the stability of our neighborhood is upset by Russia, the hand will turn here, not to Russia but to NATO. With the policy of the rest of Europe in recent years, Russia has set in motion a ball that is spinning. Sweden is thinking, and Finland is looking at what our neighbor Russia will look like. ”

Vanhanen says that the NATO question is not an ideological doctrine for him, but an issue from a security perspective. Vanhanen is also “in motion” to reflect on it.

“We need to react if necessary if someone in our neighborhood changes the stability policy that has been our goal, and now we are in that situation and need to think about it. It’s worth taking the time to do that. I do not comment on whether it is weeks, days or months. Consideration must be done in peace, ”says Vanhanen.

That is why the defense and security policy will also be discussed intensively in Parliament, Vanhanen says.

Swedish and Finland are now in very close contact.

On Monday, the Finnish Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen met his Swedish counterpart Peter Hultqvistin. President Sauli Niinistö has met with Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, whom Vanhanen will also meet later on Tuesday.

According to Vanhanen, it is important for both countries to keep each other aware of the opinions and processes that are now underway.

In both countries, it has been estimated that NATO membership, for example, should be applied for together.

“Of course, both countries make their own decisions, but there is an awareness in both countries that it makes sense to work in a very parallel direction,” says Vanhanen.

Mr Vanhanen’s visit to Stockholm was an official visit by the President, which included a meeting with the King of Sweden. Vanhanen does not talk about that discussion, but states that the King of Sweden is well informed about the situation.