Finland hopes that Turkey will facilitate Sweden’s accession to NATO this month, the Finnish Foreign Minister told Lusa, stressing that Helsinki’s accession to the organization was not against anyone.
“We are confident that Turkey will follow its own decision. President Erdogan declared last summer in Vilnius that he is willing to press the ‘green button’ for Sweden. Let’s hope that happens soon, as early as October,” said Elina Valtonen in an interview with Lusa in Helsinki.
This week, Turkey’s president made Ankara’s acceptance of Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conditional on the sale of F-16s by the United States.
“There’s nothing new about this. [Os turcos] have linked everything to Sweden’s membership of NATO. Of course, we find it a shame to some extent that there are all kinds of demands that ultimately have little to do with Sweden becoming a member and starting to strengthen the alliance, which is also in Turkey’s interest,” he said.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden have asked to join NATO, but Turkey and Hungary have not yet ratified Stockholm’s accession, despite Ankara having already given the green light and lacking parliamentary approval.
Regarding Helsinki’s accession to the organization, which took place last April, the head of Finnish diplomacy stated that this was “a very natural step.”
“We have maintained very close cooperation with NATO. Our reference group naturally consists of the Scandinavian countries, with whom we have very close cooperation. Defense cooperation with all countries, and now that Sweden will also become a member, we hope that this will be the case soon. , it makes it easier for us to be part of the same alliance,” he insisted.
The government official emphasized that the decision was “not aimed at anyone.”
“It was a choice approved by the vast majority of Finns, because it arose from our own security problems and NATO does not threaten anyone, it is a defense alliance. For example, if NATO were a threat to Russia, why would they do that? have they removed their troops from our border? It’s just rhetoric. (…) If Russia ended the war, we could put an end to this rhetoric,” he thought.
Six months after accession, the minister states that the Finns “did not feel any direct military threat when the decision was made, and certainly not now either.”
“Finland’s position has always been that we take our security very seriously and have always invested in our defense and will continue to do so. This year our defense spending reaches 2.4% of domestic product and despite joining the Alliance it is clear that we have not let down our guard, we remain primarily responsible for the defense of our country and also of the European Union and NATO border that we have with Russia,” he insisted.
Russia could end the war this afternoon
The head of Finnish diplomacy also stated in an interview with Lusa that Russia “could end the war this afternoon”, emphasizing that Ukraine has the legitimacy to defend itself and that Western countries have the right to help.
“Russia could end this war this afternoon. They’re the ones who started it. They are the ones who act illegally. If Ukraine stopped defending itself, there would probably be no Ukraine left. So this is a very unbalanced situation,” says Elina Valtonen.
“The reason we in the West are helping Ukraine is of course so that Ukraine can remain independent and sovereign and protect its territorial integrity, which it has every right to do under the United Nations Charter. right to help her. In that sense, we will continue to do so, partly on the basis of the United Nations Charter,” assured the minister of the National Coalition Party (center right), which is part of a government with the nationalist Finns. Party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats.
The minister expressed the hope that “perhaps one day a situation will arise where some negotiations can take place,” and stressed that “it will be important that Ukraine is in a position where it can accept the peace terms and also in will be able to draw up these conditions”.
On the other hand, Elina Valtonen downplayed recent statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who criticized the “speed” with which Helsinki “vacated” its historic neutrality status.
“Finland has not been neutral for a long time, especially since we joined the European Union. Admittedly, we have not been aligned militarily, which changed when we joined NATO in April. But I would say this sounds like the normal rhetoric we’re used to. on Russia’s side,” he insisted.
The head of Finnish diplomacy argued that the European Union and the traditional countries that provide development aid in Africa “should concentrate” on African countries, where, she said, “a kind of narrative war is raging, in which Russia and China are producing their share.”
European countries “must report the truth about what is really happening”.
To this end, the Finnish government official advocates that Europe should strengthen cooperation with Africa “at many levels”.
Several African countries have not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Elina Valtonen justifies with their economic dependence on Moscow.
“We need to be stronger in empowering people, helping them in their daily lives and also creating an environment conducive to investment and a good market economy. We must do it in such a way that people on the streets see that there are real benefits to economic issues in relations with the European Union,” he emphasized.
“Excellent and very deep” relations with Portugal
The Finnish Foreign Minister praised the “excellent and very deep” relations between Finland and Portugal with Lusa, highlighting the convergence of positions in the European Union.
“Bilateral relations are excellent and very deep, especially in the economic field. We have a very strong presence at Nokia in Portugal and now we have many technology startups (…), but also consolidated companies. There is real growth,” said Elina Valtonen .
As for the Finnish technology company, which has about 3,000 employees in Portugal, where it opened a new research and development center last year, the government official rated this presence as “excellent” and emphasized that “it is probably also the choice of the employees, because It’s a nice place to work.”
“Politically, I think it is surprising how much we are aligned in the European Union, despite being so far apart geographically,” the minister said, adding: “There is a lot we can do to improve our deepen relations”.
The government official, who has been in office since June, said she is “looking forward” to visiting Portugal in her new role, which she said is not yet possible due to the war in Ukraine.
Source: DN
