Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini: Need to strengthen the EU as a security community

Press release 104/2016
30 May 2016

"It is important for the EU to focus on the most essential issue, which is better security for the people. We do not need to deepen integration. We must respect the common agreements," said Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini in his speech at a seminar at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs on 30 May 2016.

The theme of the seminar was "How to resolve Europe's multiple crises?". Foreign Minister Soini outlined his positions on the EU's action during the crises Europe is facing.

He emphasised that the EU is an important security community for Finland that must be strengthened. According to him, the EU is a more ‘comprehensive’ actor than NATO, especially in the age of hybrid threats, because it has a wider set of tools at its disposal.

The crisis in relations between Russia and the West has thrown European security off balance.

"When international law is violated, we have to defend the core principles of European security and international law. This is what the EU has sought to do through sanctions," Foreign Minister Soini said.

The EU is moving from one crisis to another. Problems arise if the EU members fail to comply with mutually agreed rules. We saw this during the economic and financial crisis, and now in the refugee crisis. Control of EU external borders, cooperation with Turkey and taking actions to resolve root causes are means for the EU to curb the refugee crisis.

Foreign Minister Soini said that he is very critical of the EU in many respects. Particularly the EU bailout policy is ineffective and poorly managed. There are, however, issues in which the EU has also succeeded, for example free trade and better competitiveness, free movement and promotion of democracy.

The UK referendum in June is partly a result of the increasing mistrust of the EU. Similar developments can also be seen elsewhere in Europe. For Finland, the UK is an important and like-minded partner.

The more the EU’s foreign and security policy principles – such as democracy and sovereignty – are contested, the more the EU should steer its policies towards strengthening them.

"The EU should take a more effective role at the global level," Foreign Minister Soini stated.

Inquiries: Raili Lahnalampi, Chief of Cabinet, Office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 50 550 7546

The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are of the format [email protected].