Petteri Orpo: Finland at the transition, must act

President Donald Trump call For Vladimir Putin In February, a process that is still covered by fog and may affect Finland’s existential matters.

This is what the prime minister said Petteri Orpo (Co), who, on Wednesday, filed a report to Parliament about European security and government EU policy.

At the same time, it became clear that the United States had changed with the new management.

“This was not a surprise in itself. We had heard what President Trump said during his campaign. However, the rapid implementation of these election promises makes it clear that we, Europe, must act, ”Orpo declared.

“The time for the solemn speeches is over. Ukraine, Europe and Finland are now hard to work. ”

According to Orpo, Europe now has the time to decide whether to “let others write our future or whether we are also involved in writing it ourselves.”

From Europe’s important pillar of NATO

According to Orpo, Europe now has to take more responsibility for defending its own continent.

“In Europe, too often,” who is the next ‘when the real goal should be that no one is next. To get there, we have to act here and now, ”Orpo said.

According to the Prime Minister, the goal should be that Europe will be a stronger pillar in NATO in 5 to 10 years.

“Concretely, this means, for example, its own strong groundworks, strong European defense industry, jointly coordinated procurement, and patching European performance deficiencies and strengthening defense capabilities,” Orpo listed.

Carrier

The new situation requires significant additional investments in the EU Member States, and according to Orpo, they are now being made in Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

“But there are also things where it is more sensible for us to look for common, European solutions. These require European funding. ”

“However, it is still important to us that even European money is used where Europe is defended, or to the ability to defend Europe more widely.”

According to Orpo, last week, a relief was made when the member of the Member States gave the Commission to the Commission to strengthen the defense industry at an extraordinary summit.

“Our initiative of the Ukrainian support tool for increasing Ukraine’s support was accepted. We outlined the EU’s threshold issues regarding the Ukrainian peace talks. Finland adhered to the idea that the special status of the eastern border is identified in European defense. This was successfully recorded on the summit of the summit. ”

Finland is in the transition of EU membership

At the same time, Orpo thinks we are in a situation where “Europe regulates and the United States is investing”. According to the Prime Minister, this is the reason why we have been on the back.

“To improve competitiveness, unnecessary regulation is also needed. This is also seen as a priority in the Commission. The Commission will issue initiatives for simplifying the regulation of the series and easing the administrative burden. ”

Finland has been a member of the EU for 30 years, but according to Orpo, we are now at the transition of our membership. This is due, among other things, to the fact that Finland has the “most influential commissioner portfolio in history,” a record number of Finnish Commissioners’ cabinets, and active MEPs in the EU Parliament.

“Our job is to make sure that Finland and Europe are not bystanders,” Orpo outlined.

“We need to be able to get faster. We need to be able to facilitate EU decision-making, especially in foreign and security policy matters. Ultimately, we, the decision-makers, are responsible for the direction in which Finland will continue in its own EU policy. ”