Summary:

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini is visiting Ankara on 10–12 January, where he has already met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. He says the bilateral relations between Finland and Turkey are good, even though the relations between Turkey and the EU are currently frosty. The EU has been particularly concerned about the human rights situation and democracy development in Turkey. Mr Soini says he brought up these issues during his visit and that he is also meeting with representatives of the Turkish opposition and NGOs. Mr Soini disagrees with the European Parliament’s decision to suspend Turkey’s membership negotiations, and feels that no one benefits from such a decision expect those who have no interest in advancing the solution of e.g. the refugee problem.

26 percent of Finns want Finland to apply for NATO membership while 48% are against it, a survey by newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus shows. The share of those uncertain about applying for membership is significantly larger than in another survey conducted in the autumn. Matti Vanhanen, chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament, and Ilkka Kanerva, chairperson of the Defence Committee, estimate that the results of the survey are similar to other NATO surveys conducted in recent years. Mr Kanerva is even slightly surprised that there were no major changes even though international tensions are rising. Neither Mr Vanhanen nor Mr Kanerva propose Finland apply for NATO membership now but they do not wish to completely dismiss the possibility either.

Summary:

Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo (Coalition) has said that Finland will explore the possibility of the European Investment Bank (EIB) financing the acquisition of new jet fighters to replace the ageing Hornet fleet. Last week, Mr Orpo attended talks in Brussels on deepening the EU security policy. « All that the EU is doing to improve common security is in Finland’s interests. Finland needs to be involved in all of the projects, » he said. The new fighter aircraft will cost an estimated 7-10 billion euros.

Media:  Aamulehti 

Date: 23.12.2016

Journalist: Lauri Nurmi

Main source: 

Summary:

HBL writes in an editorial that EU security and defence policy has entered a new phase and become a top priority. Both Russia’s actions in the EU’s neighbourhood and diverse hybrid threats have placed new demands on the EU. EU defence policy no longer focuses on crises outside Europe but on internal cooperation, too. Because of the relatively high resistance to NATO membership, EU cooperation is good for Finland. The greater the uncertainty in our environment, the more we must invest in our own security. Stable relations reduce the risk of surprising risks.

Media:  Hufvudstadsbladet (E-edition, PDF)