Finland cannot rely on Nato’s security guarantees because of US President Donald Trump’s recent comments, according to former foreign affairs minister and veteran Social Democrat MP Erkki Tuomioja.
“It is rather obvious that Trump would not jeopardise any American interests for Finland’s — or any other country’s — sake,” he said, adding that Finland cannot rely on US troops being sent to help defend Finland if “someone tries to come here”.
“We’re seeing Ukraine being thrown under the bus. Yes, the Baltic countries and Finland can end up there, too,” Tuomioja told Yle.
“I’m not necessarily saying we should leave Nato, but [the defence they could offer] is not enough,” he said.
Tuomioja, who served as foreign minister from 2000–2007 and 2011–2015, made a similar statement in a recent post on Facebook.
As a solution to the new uncertainty about Nato security guarantees, Tuomioja said European and Nordic countries must strengthen their defence cooperation.
New ideas needed
“We need creative and open-minded ideas,” he said, suggesting that Nordic countries could build a defence alliance based on their defence cooperation body Nordefco — a group which Finland chairs this year.
“Of course, not as a replacement of Nato, but as a complement to it,” Tuomioja explained.
He also said that it should be considered whether the Western European Union — a military alliance which preceded Nato — could be revived.
“All of Nato’s resources are entirely dependent on the US. Europe really only offers complementary strength. European defence cooperation must be quickly strengthened now,” he said.
However, he was hesitant to say joining Nato was a mistake.
“In that situation, the pressure of public opinion was such that there was no other option. But my point is that we cannot rely solely on it,” he said.
European Commission VP
Meanwhile, Finnish European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen described the prevailing security situation as the weakest since World War II.
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Henna Virkkunen Image: Silja Viitala / Yle
“We are in the most difficult situation since the Second World War. Ukraine has been the target of Russia’s full-scale attack for three years, and we must be able to significantly increase support for the country. Ukraine must be able to push Russia out of its territory,” Virkkunen told reporters in Helsinki on Thursday.
‘Russia has ally in White House’
Trump’s recent comments about Ukraine — and apparent shift in friendliness towards the Kremlin — was a topic of discussion on Yle TV1’s discussion show A-Talk on Thursday evening.
Referring to Ukrainian peace negotiations, A-Talk guest European Parliament member Katri Kulmuni (Cen) said that Russia now had an ally in the White House.
“Russia’s negotiating position is absolutely excellent, because they have an ally in the White House,” she said.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump surprised Finnish and other European leaders by falsely blaming Ukraine for starting the ongoing war. In fact, Russia started the conflict when it invaded the country three years ago.
The host of A-talk, Sakari Sirkkanen, asked Kulmuni if she truly believes Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are allies.
“Yes, Trump is repeating Russian propaganda. The alliance has shifted from us here to somewhere else,” Kulmuni responded.
Another guest on the show was MEP Eero Heinäluoma (SDP), who did not directly say whether he thought Trump and Putin were allies. However, he said that the US and Russia use the same logic.
“Their perspective is to pursue the interests of great power, if necessary, at the expense of smaller ones,” he said
Heinäluoma noted that Trump’s talk about taking over Greenland and Putin’s actions in Ukraine shared “the same logic”.
However, MEP Ville Niinistö (Green) pushed back on Kulmuni’s opinion about US-Russian alliances, noting that there are major factors in the United States other than Donald Trump.
“But Trump’s way of thinking is similar to Putin’s,” Niinistö said.
MEP Mika Aaltola (NCP) did not offer a definitive answer to the alliance question, but pointed out that the US is not supporting Russia militarily.
“Trump is, of course, unpredictable. He likes to be that way and enjoys the fact that we are talking about him here, too,” Aaltola said.
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Publish date : 2025-02-21 02:07:00
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