Maria Lindén, a researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute, considers the visit significant and points out that it is related to Russia – but in a different way than before.
President of the United States Joe Biden the visit to Finland is confirmed. Biden will make his first visit to NATO-Finland on Thursday, July 13.
Researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute’s Center for the Study of American Politics and Power Maria Lindén consider the visit significant.
– Of course, this is related to Russia, but in a different way than the previous US presidents’ visits to Finland, Lindén points out.
In the past, US presidents have visited Finland to meet the Russian leadership or they have stopped on their way to Russia. Most recently, Helsinki served as a meeting place For Donald Trump and to Vladimir Putin in July 2018.
– Now the situation is different. We are coming here to emphasize the fact that we do not intend to meet the Russian government, says Lindén.
– Now we are in a new world time, where Finland is a NATO ally. The President of the United States will visit NATO-Finland for the first time.
Presidents Sauli Niinistö and Joe Biden met each other diligently throughout Finland’s NATO process. Biden’s visit to Helsinki will be the fourth one-on-one meeting between the presidents in just over a year. The previous meetings were in Washington in March and May of last year and in March of this year.
– Biden comes here to emphasize that the United States is Finland’s ally and that Finland is under the protection of the United States. Yes, this is a historic visit, researcher Maria Lindén says.
– It emphasizes the current closeness of the relationship between the United States and Finland, and the importance of Finland’s NATO alliance from the perspective of the United States. Yes, in my opinion, it sends a signal to Russia that the United States supports Finland and stands behind Finland.
Biden’s visit to Finland has been rumored for some time, and it is believed to be timed in connection with the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The public estimated that Biden would come to Helsinki before the meeting in Vilnius, but now he will only come after it.
– I don’t see that it changes that symbolism.
The White House says on their website, that Biden will travel to Europe on July 9. He first visits London, where he meets the king of Charles III and the prime minister Rishi Sun too. After that, the NATO summit in Vilnius and the summit of the Nordic countries and the United States in Helsinki are on the agenda.