“NATO at the last minute.” Stubb: Finland was at risk of a gray zone

Finland became a NATO member at the last moment, President Alexander Stubb said on Tuesday. He thus commented on the new US national security strategy.

According to Stubb, staying outside NATO was “Finland's strategic mistake” at the time.

Can you imagine what situation we would be in if we were not members of NATO but were in the gray zone? – asked the Finnish president during a discussion panel in Helsinki, in which former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (2014-2024) was also a guest.

Finland, after decades of neutrality and remaining outside the defense alliance, joined NATO in spring 2022 in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine. The country was officially admitted to the Alliance on April 4, 2023, at the end of the term of office of previous president Sauli Niinisto, who for years was a supporter of maintaining partnership with NATO and creating a common defense structure within the EU.

During the panel in Helsinki, it was emphasized that the new US security strategy developed by the administration of President Donald Trump does not mention Russia as a threat and states that NATO is not a constantly expanding Alliance. – This is a reflection of Trump's “America first” ideology, Stubb continued, while expressing his belief that the US will continue to “play the role of security guarantor.”

According to Stoltenberg, Norway's current finance minister, the US will remain a NATO ally, even though the current developments in the international situation raise concerns. The former NATO chief stressed that shifting the US's attention away from Europe and towards Asia-Pacific could even be “beneficial because this region has an impact on European security.”.(PAP)

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