Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin admitted today that Europe and the West made “a big mistake” in 2014 by not responding “firmer” to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
“I think Russia thought that [agora] the same would happen as in Crimea. We must learn lessons from the current situation. We cannot be naive,” Marin said at the Munich security conference, which began in Germany on Friday and will run through Sunday.
“We will have decades of this kind of behavior if Ukraine doesn’t win the war and we don’t defend our values,” the Finnish prime minister warned.
For this reason, he added, “the war in Ukraine is not only a matter for Europe, but for the whole world, because it is a war of values.”
Moreover, Sanna Marin warned, many “authoritarian countries are raising their heads against the rules-based international order, which is everyone’s problem”.
“The only way to achieve peace is to guarantee that Europe and the democratic countries are strong, it is to bet on our defensive capabilities and in terms of capacity and presence against these authoritarian countries,” he defended.
The Finnish Head of Government took the opportunity to underline once again that her country’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is “in the interest” of the Atlantic Alliance and should create the conditions for the two countries to join the organization at the same time.
“We want to join Sweden at the same time,” said Marin, indicating that Finland has sent a “very clear” message to Turkey and Hungary in this regard.
Turkey and Hungary are the only two members of the Atlantic Alliance that have not yet ratified the membership of Stockholm and Helsinki, implying unanimous approval.
Ankara has indicated on several occasions that it does not oppose Finland’s accession to the Alliance, but has suspended negotiations with Sweden, including accusing the country of failing to extradite individuals accused of membership in Kurdish organizations that have been declared terrorist groups by the Turkish authorities.
“We cannot influence how countries ratify it, but our message is that we prefer it and want to participate together,” said Marin, emphasizing that “membership in NATO is Finland’s act of peace.”
The two traditionally neutral Nordic countries jointly applied for NATO membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
When the war broke out [na Ucrânia] it became clear that Finland would join NATO,” the Finnish prime minister defended.
“When Russia, our neighbor, attacked another [país] neighbor, it was obvious that Finland would join NATO, because that is the border that Russia will not cross,” he argued.
Marin underlined that “I would also like to have a beautiful and safe world where no money needs to be invested in armed forces”, but admitted that “that world is not a reality”.
Source: DN
