“We have moved on to a new nuclear age where, unfortunately, the role that nuclear weapons play has been increasing,” President Alexander Stubb said on Monday.
Image: Sasha Silvala / Yle
According to President Alexander Stubb, Finland’s “security environment is harsher than we would prefer”.
Stubb made the statement in his opening address at the 254th National Defence Course, a meeting of leaders from government, the media and academia dealing with national security issues. The event started on Monday morning at the House of Nobility in Helsinki.
“The assessment of our security environment begins with Russia, its objectives and the means it employs to pursue these objectives. One of these means is war, and, indeed, Russia is now in its fourth year of war in Ukraine. Ukraine is not only fighting for its own existence, but also for the whole of Europe and democracy, and it deserves our support in this endeavour,” Stubb said, according to an English transcript of his speech published by the Office of the President.
In many ways, according to Stubb, supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression is also beneficial for Finland.
“Ukraine has an unparalleled understanding of modern warfare, and we are learning a lot from them. Cooperation is a two-way street,” he said.
“Russia does not pose an immediate military threat to us. By preparing, by developing our deterrence and defence, we aim to ensure that it will also not pose such a threat to us in the future.”
He said a second factor that is shaping Finland’s security environment was the “multidimensional nature of crises”.
“New nuclear age”
“New or increasingly wicked forms of hybrid influencing are challenging our society. Above all, we must take good care of our critical infrastructure. I refer to both physical and digital infrastructure. In addition, there is a third component of infrastructure, one that is equally important: the mental one. Mental infrastructure is the cognitive capital that we hold as individuals and as society; our crisis resilience and our unity,” Stubb said.
He also noted an increased role of the economy and technology in security issues.
“The new reality has also brought a change to the logic of deterrence. Similarly, the strategic stability between the major powers is undergoing a transformation. We have moved on to a new nuclear age where, unfortunately, the role that nuclear weapons play has been increasing,” the Finnish president said, according to the transcript.
“Our current era is also defined by a change in the role of the United States. At the military level, our bilateral cooperation with the United States is thriving. However, we cannot ignore the fact that the United States is turning its gaze partly elsewhere, and this change is here to stay,” the speech transcript read.
“Echoes of history”
“We should remind ourselves that nostalgia is not a strategy. There is no going back.
In 2022, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine took on forms that called to mind the armoured battles of the 1940s — some of them notably waged in the steppes of Ukraine. The mass warfare has also carried echoes of history,” Stubb said.
“At the same time, however, the war in Ukraine is different from its predecessors. The front line of the war has frozen almost like during the First World War, but in addition to people, the combatants now include autonomous weapons systems.”
“We must take the world as it is. At the same time, we need to understand what direction the world is heading towards and what kind of world this could be,” Stubb said.
The president also highlighted what Finland has been doing to address the new security issues over the past few years, including joining Nato and acquisition of 64 F-35 fighter jets.
“It is important that more resources have now been allocated to defence, enabling long-term development efforts. Increasing defence expenditure is difficult, especially in the current economic situation, but we have a clear view of why we have to make these investments. Peace and freedom come at a price.”
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