Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s speech during a topical parliamentary discussion on foreign policy 20 October 2015

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Prime Minister Juha Sipilä

Madam Speaker,

Under our Government Programme, Finland’s foreign and security policy aims to achieve the following: to strengthen our international position, to secure our independence and regional integrity and to improve the security and welfare of people in Finland. Moreover, taking note of global interdependencies, Finland will also promote international stability, peace, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and equality.

Finland is part of the West, and a member of the European Union. We comply with the decisions we have made together in the Union. Finland’s international position is founded on our ability to understand our changing operating environment. It is also based on a strong self-understanding of our place in the international community. A self-confident nation is well equipped to make its own, correct choices, even in difficult situations.

We will strengthen Finland’s international position with an active foreign policy. And we are committed to offering our expertise in mediation and peacekeeping also in the years to come. We must also take an active role in resolving the root causes of global challenges such as mass migration. I believe Finland has a lot to offer in finding sustainable solutions to complex issues facing the whole humankind such as climate change, energy, food and water supply. We are a people accustomed to resolving tricky problems.

The current flow of migrants into Europe is a concrete example of a chain of events that has essentially been evident and predictable for years. But no one could have foreseen that this very summer hundreds of thousands of people would decide to leave their homes in search of refuge and a better life in Europe, even though Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia have been unstable for years.

This is an important reminder of how we also in Finland must remember to maintain a global perspective in our foreign policy. We must be able to interpret the big picture in world politics. In a situation like this, thorny foreign policy questions do not exist simply outside our national borders – they permeate our everyday lives. We must prepare ourselves for the megatrends triggering global development challenges as well as their knock-on effects impacting our foreign policy in many ways in the years ahead.

Madam Speaker,

Finland’s foreign and security policy environment has changed. Events around the world currently reverberate in our domestic situation in a most exceptional way. Moreover, the triad of external, internal and European challenges is now very tangible. This was also very clear on Thursday, when I last met my European colleagues. We discussed the current migration situation in our respective countries and the European solutions to this pressing issue.

At the same time, however, we also talked about the war in Syria and ISIL terrorism, about Russia’s operation in Syria and the dialogue between Russia and the United States. We talked about Turkey and about the closer collaboration between the EU and Turkey. We talked about Libya and the rays of hope in its internal development. And we talked about Ukraine. In summary – our common agenda is long and complex.

The European Union’s ability to operate externally is facing constant challenges. We must not let this turn Europe into a mere spectator on the world’s political stage. The EU must find a way to mobilise its foreign policy arsenal more effectively. This is vital, because a European Union that is strong in its foreign and security policy is to our interests, too.

Madam Speaker,

It is important for Finland to maintain good foreign policy relations to all directions. The Nordic countries, the Baltic states, other EU partners and transatlantic cooperation are all important to us. We must not start taking these relations for granted.

We will also continue a constructive dialogue and solid, everyday, neighbourly relations with Russia. Our relationship with Russia is good, even though times are more difficult now, both due to Russia’s external actions and the direction of Russia’s internal development.

For 25 years now, relations between Finland and Russia have no longer been limited to contacts between our capital cities, Helsinki and Moscow. Even today, many regions and municipalities work in close collaboration with their partners across the border. The Russian market is still important for Finnish businesses. Cooperation between the authorities in Finland and Russia is solid and extensive, for example between our respective Border Guards.

Notwithstanding the difficult situation in the relations between the EU and Russia, I think that, to be able to resolve major international questions, they too must be able to cooperate – in issues such as slow economic growth, extremist radicalisation and new risks related to climate change.  

Madam Speaker,

Although our foreign policy environment has changed over the years and will continue to do so, the core foundations do not: Foreign policy decisions must be based on an up-to-date understanding of the situation, not on the past. Foreign policy must be based on hard facts, not on assumptions. Foreign policy demands resilience. 

Foreign policy has often been seen, especially as a legacy of the past, as something mysterious. It is not, however, a secret art. It has increasingly become an everyday matter as, for instance, the role of external economic relations has gradually grown in our external relations alongside traditional foreign and security policy.

Keeping our own affairs in order creates a strong foundation for Finland’s foreign policy. A robust economy, an efficient and fair public sector and a society that is caring and responsible all bring credibility and influence also to our foreign policy. This is one more reason why we must continue on the road of reform.

We are Finland, a Land of Solutions. An active, open, international and bold Finland of solutions. This is an excellent principle to apply also to our foreign policy.