Finland continues to help Ukraine as long as needed: Niinistö

President Sauli Niinistö on Friday said Finland is committed to extend its support to Ukraine since stat of Russia´s attack and the support will be continued as long as it is needed.

“Finland has been steadfast in its support to Ukraine ever since the start of the war. As part of the Western community, Finland will continue its assistance to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people for as long as it is needed,” said Niinistö in his keynote address at the Helsinki Security Forum.

He also said that the impacts of this new reality are not limited to Ukraine. Russia’s war has deep, extensive and long-term implications for all of us. In Finland, in Northern Europe, in Europe as a whole, and in the world.

The President said that Russia is waging a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. It has started a mobilization, however partial that is.

“It is talking increasingly loosely about the use of nuclear weapons. In outright contempt of international law, it has arranged sham referendums in areas it has occupied from its neighbour. And as President Putin has just declared moments ago, it is using those illegitimate results to claim that these areas are now part of the Russian Federation. Finland, together with the whole EU and our other partners, has firmly condemned these acts,” he said.

The President spoke about the present security situation of the country and the possible NATO membership.

“When Finland eventually becomes a member of NATO, the most important value added to our security will be the preventive effect of the Alliance’s joint deterrence. As a NATO member, Finland will participate in the planning and development of that deterrence. It will provide the kind of protection we would not have outside NATO,” he said.

Niinistö also said, NATO membership is also of major significance in case that this preventive effect is not enough. As a NATO member, Finland will participate in the planning and, if necessary, implementation of the joint defence.

He said that the bottom line is that Finland is seeking to become a NATO member.

“Nothing more, nothing less. We don’t have any particular requests or reservations that we would be setting as preconditions for our membership,” said the President, adding that the Finnish profile in NATO will develop naturally over time and according to changing circumstances.

“We are not just asking what NATO can do for us. We are also thinking what we can do for NATO, contributing to the security of the whole alliance,” he added.

Although our security environment is changing dramatically, the basic contours of Finland’s foreign and security policy remain intact. They just need to be adapted to the new reality.

“We have never wanted to increase tensions. But we have always made sure that we are also ready for more difficult circumstances. We may not have made the loudest of public statements. Instead, we have decisively built our strong defence, which has been widely respected. And we are prepared now,” said the President.

He also pointed out that Finnish defence is in good shape to begin with, and the country is increasingly investing in it.

“NATO membership does by no means mean that we could start neglecting our own national defence. Just the opposite,” he said.

Speaking on the relationship with Russia, he said this is of course the pillar that has collapsed, and therefore need to rely even more on the others.

“I want to stress that we have never been naïve about this. The idea has been to maintain as functioning a relationship with Russia as possible at a given point in time. Simultaneously, I have always repeated the old Finnish wisdom that the Cossack takes everything that is loose,” he said.

“At this point in time, any kind of functioning relationship with Russia seems like a very distant prospect. Instead, we need to focus on fixing anything that may still lay loose. But we also need to remember that Russia will not disappear. It will continue to be our neighbour, even if there is no turn for the better. Finland can never afford to ignore it,” the President added.

He also spoke on the recent explosion in the Baltic Sea, leading to gas leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines and termed it as warning signs.

“These events need to be investigated thoroughly. Already now, they remind us of the myriad possibilities in which this crisis can escalate, horizontally or vertically, with unforeseen consequences,” he said.

“One thing is certain. In the coming months, our resilience will be severely tested. Whatever Russia does next, however difficult the energy crisis will turn out to be, unity is our response. In Finland, in Europe, in the world,” the President added.