MÃœNCHEN The annual high-level security conference in Munich, Germany starts today, Friday. There are fears in the air about the spread of war in Europe. Former President of the United States Donald Trump has again threatened that he would leave the NATO countries to their own devices in the face of an attack if re-elected.
The future president of Finland will also participate in the weekend conference Alexander Stubbalthough still in the capacity of professor in Florence.
The Minister of Defense is traveling directly from Brussels to the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Munich Antti Häkkänen (cook).
The chairman of the parliamentary group of the Social Democrats and former Minister for Europe has also been invited as a guest speaker Titti Tuppurainen. He talks about the security of northern Europe.
Ukraine again the main topics
The Munich Security Conference has been organized since 1963. It is considered the most important security meeting in world politics, where friends and enemies meet confidentially in the “back rooms†of official politics.
In recent years, the security conference has been organized in a tense atmosphere due to the war in Ukraine started by Russia.
Also this time, the main topics of the meeting are supporting Ukraine. Namely, the United States threatens to withdraw its aid. Donald Trump has pressured Republicans to refuse to make any kind of compromise on support for Ukraine during the US presidential election campaign.
A European nuclear weapon?
At the same time, presidential candidate Trump threatens NATO partners. That’s why one of the most important topics in München is Europe’s responsibility for its own security.
Nuclear weapons protection has become a topic of conversation in recent days. In Germany, the considerations are even intensifying European atomic bomb about the possibility of acquisition.
– It tells you how tense the situation is and how serious the Russian threat is now considered, Tytti Tuppurainen said during the meeting in an interview with .
In Munich, taking stock of whether Europe’s security is in better or worse shape today than at the similar meeting held a year ago.
– There will probably be a lot of discussion about the ability of the United States to secure long-term support for Ukraine. It is a key question whether the security situation is stable or has weakened altogether, Tuppurainen estimates.
A hot topic is also the fact that, according to the American media, Russia is looking for a nuclear bomb that could be directed at space satellites. Such a thing could destroy both civilian and military communications.
The graphic below shows how nuclear weapons are now distributed in the world.
Security guarantees for Ukraine
Around 50 state and government leaders will arrive in Munich for the weekend German media by. In addition to them, a hundred ministers and their assistants will travel to Bavaria.
Due to security measures, the city is on alert until Sunday evening. More than 5Â 000 police officers guarded the event.
On Saturday, the president of Ukraine will arrive at the meeting place Volodymyr Zelenskyi. At least he meets the Vice President of the United States Horrible Harris.
Before arriving in Munich, Zelenskyi will visit Berlin and Paris. In France, he signs a new one between Ukraine and France security agreement president Emmanuel Macron with.
Some kind of security guarantees are also concluded in Berlin. Last July, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, it was agreed that Ukraine, which is not part of NATO, will negotiate bilateral security agreements between the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Great Britain, France and Germany. The London agreement is already there, now the Paris and Berlin agreements will follow.
What does China want in the Arctic region?
The Chinese foreign minister is also present in Munich. Finns are interested in what China is aiming for in the Arctic region.
– It is important to think about what NATO is aiming for in northern Europe. Now that Russia has announced that it is withdrawing from the Arctic Council, it is good to think more carefully about superpower policy in the Arctic regions, Tuppurainen says.
There was still no information about Stubb’s meetings on Thursday evening.
Häkkää has several bilateral meetings with his colleagues in Munich. In addition, he participates, among others, the German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius and former US Secretary of Defense, Gen Jim Mattis to events hosted by the hosts.