Whoever wins will have a crucial role in the Western alliance backing Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Finland, which became NATO’s newest member in April of this year, is currently negotiating an agreement with Washington for the U.S. to maintain a permanent presence in the country. The job of negotiating that deal falls to Finland’s president, who, under the constitution, is in charge of security and foreign policy while the prime minister handles EU and domestic affairs.
”It’s an ongoing process,” Stubb said of talks between Helsinki and Washington about a possible defense cooperation agreement (DCA) that would see U.S. troops stationed in Finland. Asked about the deal’s timing, Stubb said it was ”imminent. I would say within the next six months. These are complicated agreements, so that’s why it takes a bit of time.”[…]
That said, Stubb underscored that U.S. strategic priorities were “changing” and that its interests would probably lie ”somewhere else” than Europe after the Ukraine war is over. EU countries had to be prepared for the change and to support Ukraine’s reconstruction, he added.
”Does Europe need to be more Finnish? Perhaps to a certain extent, but Europe now has the safest of walls […] Are we going to see an increased militarization of Europe? The answer is yes. Are we going to see increased budget spending on defense? The answer is yes,” he said. Läs artikel