The President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, stated that Europe must accept the fact that the United States is changing and that the ideology underlying the foreign policy of the current American administration is in conflict with European values. At the same time, he announced that Finland will update its security strategy.
Speaking on February 4, Stubb said that both Europe and Finland must look “honestly” at the reality of a transforming America.
“The ideology of the US administration, which underlies its foreign policy, is in contradiction with our values”, he stated.
The statements come at a time when several European NATO member states, including Finland, are reassessing their foreign policies. The reassessment was accelerated by tensions that arose in January, after US President Donald Trump provoked friction with European allies over Greenland, a territory under Danish sovereignty, according to Reuters.
Stubb clarified that Finland will update its foreign policy and security doctrine to reflect changes in the international environment. “We must openly acknowledge that the United States is changing. Both the way it relates to allies and how it exercises its foreign policy are changing”, he said, while also emphasizing that the US remains “an important ally”.
Reuters notes that the Finnish leader has simultaneously tried to maintain close relations with Donald Trump, hoping to gain American support for Ukraine in the context of the Russian invasion and to strengthen Finland’s security, a country bordering Russia.