Finland supports recovery in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, Finland is helping to create the preconditions that in future would enable the people of Afghanistan themselves to be responsible for security in their country. This was the main message of the event on Afghanistan arranged by Europe Information in Helsinki at the end of September.

The purpose of Europe Information’s campaign on Afghanistan takes information to the provinces of Finland, telling about Finland’s activities in Afghanistan, providing information about the challenges facing the country, giving news about the positive developments that have already taken place there and offering the public an opportunity for discussion. Besides the event in Helsinki, events have been held in autumn in the towns of Mikkeli and Vaasa.

Political agreement the aim

Finland has participated in the ISAF mission of NATO since 2002. Despite the long peacekeeping period, Afghanistan is still not ready to act independently. On the contrary, speaking at the event in Helsinki, Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies stated that the security situation in the area has weakened and the number of strikes has increased.

The intention is not to remain in Afghanistan permanently; rather, the idea is to transfer responsibility, in increasing degrees, to the army and police forces of Afghanistan. So far the police forces have not been competent enough to shoulder responsibility. Raising the level of the police is, according to Minister Häkämies, an urgent objective.

The aim for Afghanistan is political agreement, not a military solution. The people of Afghanistan must themselves take responsibility for their country’s operations, but when this will succeed is still open. The Taleban are not considered to be ready for negotiations yet.

What do we gain by helping Afghanistan

Stability or lack of stability is an international matter. Unstable conditions spawn more instability. Terrorism, the drug trade and immigrant flows do not remain Afghanistan’s internal affairs; they expand out as far as Finland. For this reason there is the wish to {88}act towards advance prevention on site. Most of the world’s heroin comes from Afghanistan, Director General Elina Kalkku of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs pointed out.

Finland is supporting Afghanistan in many ways. The approach is holistic: civilian crisis management and development aid are implemented alongside military crisis management. One of Finland’s priorities has been a micro-loan programme that, according to estimates, has given rise to 700,000 jobs. Micro-loans are used to finance the businesses of small entrepreneurs.

When asked what would happen if Finland did not have a presence in Afghanistan, Director General Kalkku replied that one should look back ten years into the past. When left to its own devices, Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Taleban; the consequences are still being patched today.

Accustomed to crossfire

The panelists were of the opinion that nine out of ten Afghanis do not want the Taleban back in power. There are great regional differences in support for the Taleban. Nevertheless, relations with Westerners are not without problems. According to Nasima Razmyar, Refugee Woman of the Year, goodwill is not enough when bombs fall in the wrong places.

Being in the crossfire of conquerors is familiar to the people of Afghanistan. People have always come from elsewhere, conquered, lost and left the country. Although the Taleban are feared, they have the home advantage of a common language and culture with the people of Afghanistan. The Taleban promise things that the international community does not: NATO will not promise the people jobs in future, either. The Taleban legal system competes with the official legal system and often wins in speed what it loses in the quality of investigation.

The media are a strength

The panelists also saw glimmers of light in Afghanistan’s situation. The press in Afghanistan is relatively free, which makes it possible to reach people enthusiastic about shouldering responsibility. Razmyar trusts young people as the actors of tomorrow; they already receive a lot of international influences through social media. This year’s presidential elections were also seen as a step ahead – though not fair elections, they were the first in that direction in a long time.

Nor is poverty an obstacle to development of Afghanistan, for the country has natural resources. Other countries, too, are interested in those natural resources, so the country will hardly be ignored in future, either.