Post a Comment Print Share on Facebook

"Almost all Finns are ready to defend the country with arms"

WORLD: The incumbent Prime Minister Sanna Marin recently promised Ukraine the delivery of F-18 fighter jets.

- 569 reads.

"Almost all Finns are ready to defend the country with arms"

WORLD: The incumbent Prime Minister Sanna Marin recently promised Ukraine the delivery of F-18 fighter jets. Finland would only be the third country after Poland and Slovakia to take this step. Is that a realistic announcement?

Elina Valtonen: According to the Finnish constitution, such things have to be agreed not only with the president, but also with the foreign minister and defense minister. That did not happen in this case, for which the prime minister has been heavily criticized in this country. The main problem is that our new fleet (200 F-35 fighter jets, editor's note) will not be delivered until 2026. In connection with the associated pilot training, it will still be some time before we can hand in our old jets. We want to support the Ukrainians as much as possible. But we don't want to promise anything that isn't realistic - at least in the foreseeable future. We must also think of our own defense.

WORLD: After Hungary and Turkey gave up their resistance, Finland could become a NATO member as early as next week. Moscow has repeatedly threatened severe consequences in this case. How do you protect yourself against a major military power with which you share a border more than 1300 kilometers long?

Valtonen: Finland has built strong basic defenses and military capabilities for decades. There is also a great willingness to defend oneself among the population. According to the latest survey, over 80 percent of all citizens are ready to take up arms to defend the country if we were attacked. One must not submit – that applies not only to us, but to the whole of Europe. The war made it clear that we can no longer be naive about Russia.

WORLD: In the summer, parliament approved a special fund for the construction of a 200-kilometer fence on the border with Russia. But this doesn't stop a tank.

Valtonen: Of course, when it comes to conventional warfare, a fence can't do much. But there are also hybrid measures that Russia has used in the past. This includes guiding migrants across the border in order to build up political pressure. This fence is therefore primarily intended to keep instrumentalized crowds away. However, we not only need our own border security, but also help from Frontex in the future, and we would like Europe's external borders to be even more secure.

WORLD: What comes after NATO accession is complete - such as a NATO base on the border with Russia or even the stationing of nuclear weapons?

Valtonen: Not only are we open to the idea of ​​a NATO base, but we will continue to actively discuss it with our partners. A base would be in the interest of the entire Alliance because then we could better utilize our unique air defense capabilities and experience operating in the Arctic region. This will play a major geopolitical role in the future. On the other hand, as far as nuclear weapons are concerned, I would say no. A stationing would not be in our interest and probably also not in that of NATO.

WORLD: A historic step was recently decided at a meeting of NATO states and other Ukraine supporters at the German air force base in Ramstein: Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway want to pool their air defense in the future. What exactly does that mean?

Valtonen: The concept isn't entirely new because we've already coordinated our defense strategies in the region. The main thing now is that we have better integrated planning and execution in air defense. This includes, for example, joint airspace surveillance and that we train our soldiers and carry out exercises together. In this sense, it is extremely important that Sweden too can join NATO as soon as possible. Although we already work together bilaterally, NATO membership allows for much deeper cooperation.

WORLD: Ms. Valtonen, for the election on Sunday there are signs of a head-to-head race between the governing Social Democrats, the right-wing Finns party and your liberal-conservative party. A realistic scenario is that they enter into a coalition with, among others, the right-wing populists. How would that change your country's migration policy?

Valtonen: Even if the Finns participate in the government, they would first have to agree a coalition agreement with several parties. And it's far too early to tell what that would entail. What our parties agree on is that tougher action should be taken against criminal immigrants and asylum seekers. It is important to understand that few asylum seekers have come to Finland in recent years. However, we have 50,000 Ukrainian refugees, many of them children. There is a strong support among the population that we first take in and integrate these people, provided they also want to stay longer.

WORLD: Almost a million asylum applications were made in the EU last year. Brussels is now taking tougher measures, indirectly financing the construction of border fences and wanting to put pressure on countries that have so far shown little cooperation in deportations. Is that the solution to get the migration movements under control?

Valtonen: In the coming years and decades, millions of people could flee to Europe simply as a result of climate change or the many regional conflicts in Africa. A coordinated European response to this challenge is needed. We also need hotspots outside our external borders so that the asylum procedures can be carried out in an orderly and coordinated manner. And of course we have to find a way of redistributing migrants who have a right to asylum in solidarity.

WORLD: How should a sustainable EU migration policy be designed?

Valtonen: In order to put an end to illegal migration and thus to dying in the Mediterranean, we need a common European strategy and an effort to break up the smuggling business and human trafficking. At the same time, we need legal and orderly channels of immigration.

WORLD: ... which is particularly important in view of the growing need for foreign workers, which is of great concern to both German and Finnish politicians.

Valtonen: Right, because we too have a rapidly aging population and need people at every level of the labor market. If we want to shape migration policy successfully, then on the one hand we have to prevent illegal entries. On the other hand, however, the legal route must be designed in such a way that people can integrate here, find a place for themselves and their families and have a future on the job market.

WORLD: The "Danish way" of a rigorous immigration and integration policy was mostly sharply criticized internationally. Many countries are now following suit. Can a similar change be expected in Finland?

Valtonen: It is important to understand that we have a different starting point than in Sweden or Denmark, where there have traditionally been a large number of asylum seekers and therefore restrictive policies have been in place for some time. Since 2015, we have been counting asylum seekers in the hundreds or a few thousand, not tens of thousands. There will perhaps be a mild tightening, for example with regard to the idea of ​​hotspots outside the EU mentioned, the conditions for social support for asylum seekers and the repatriation of delinquent immigrants. We will also campaign for this at EU level.

"Kick-off Politics" is WELT's daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, among others, or directly via RSS feed.

Avatar
Your Name
Post a Comment
Characters Left:
Your comment has been forwarded to the administrator for approval.×
Warning! Will constitute a criminal offense, illegal, threatening, offensive, insulting and swearing, derogatory, defamatory, vulgar, pornographic, indecent, personality rights, damaging or similar nature in the nature of all kinds of financial content, legal, criminal and administrative responsibility for the content of the sender member / members are belong.