Today, the President of the United States and the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö will discuss security cooperation between the United States and Finland. The extraordinary meeting has not only significant symbolic value, but also practical consequences, writes ‘s US correspondent Iida Tikka.
WASHINGTON When the United States Joe Biden and the president Sauli Niinistö meet today at the White House, the importance of the encounter is hard to overstate.
Biden has not met face-to-face with Russia since the start of the Russian offensive war. Not the most important nuclear power in Britain Boris Johnsonianot the EU ‘s economic power in Germany Olaf Scholzia, not the most discussed with Russia by France Emmanuel Macronia. All three countries are also significant NATO allies.
Finland is a partner to the United States, not an ally. Still – or perhaps that is why – the first meeting in which Biden sacrifices his time has been arranged with the Finnish leader.
The encounter is a message to Finland about US support. At the same time, it is Finland’s message to Russia To Vladimir Putin.
Little is known about the content of the meetingbut a spokesman for the White House Jen Psakin According to the presidents, during the working meeting, the presidents will discuss defense co-operation between Finland and the United States, which “is very strong and supports Finland’s close co-operation with NATO.”
In practice, therefore, presidents can talk about anything from the development of intelligence cooperation to preliminary NATO inquiries.
The discussion is certainly part of the attempt to create an assessment of Finland’s changed security environment and its future changes, which Niinistö wrote in his press release on Thursday. According to him, it should be done “not with delay, but with care.”
From Finland’s point of view, such an assessment includes information on how the United States would react in this situation if Finland applied for NATO membership.
According to NATO rules each member state must accept the accession of a new country to the military alliance in accordance with each member state’s own bureaucracy. In the United States, for example, the Senate must approve new members by a super-majority.
The United States is also likely to have the best picture of how quickly NATO could reach a consensus. Negotiations on NATO enlargement in the 1990s lasted for years, while in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, NATO countries decided to launch a common defense in days.
If Finland applies for membership, NATO’s internal unity will be of paramount importance.
Former head of the U.S. NATO Department I interviewed Leo Michelin According to the Finns, the perception of the military alliance has so far been incorrect. According to Michelin, Finns have seen NATO as a defense organization that is important in war situations, not a peace organization that prevents wars from igniting with the alliance’s clean mass and nuclear weapons.
Michel believes that NATO would welcome Finland to join, as co-operation has continued for more than 20 years. Finland would also increase the so-called strategic depth and facilitate the defense of the Baltics.
Biden probably believes that too, because otherwise he would hardly meet Niinistö right now. It is well known in the United States that NATO is interested in Finland. However, Biden will not be the first to talk about it – it will be up to Niinistö to talk about NATO at the meeting.
in addition to Finnish the meeting will be closely followed in Russia.
It is already quite exceptional in itself that Niinistö does not head to Biden after meeting in Moscow. As crises escalated, Niinistö has often had telephone conversations symmetrically in both directions.
Now there is no hint that Niinistö is going to talk to Putin. Negotiations with Russia are not currently seen to benefit Finland.
Putin has lost his showcase to Europe, the one state that could be presented as a model country for functioning relations.
And if Finland joins NATO, the border between the military alliance and Russia will more than double.