President by Alexander Stubb according to, the conflict between Iran and Israel will affect, in one form or another, the arms sales of Finland and Israel in the future. However, Stubb did not want to say more than that, even though behind the words shone the desire to acquire new weapon systems from Israel.
Stubb did not want to say how the conflict between Iran and Israel affects the arms sales of Finland and Israel. "We will see that. But once again, in every situation, we put our safety and defense first," said the president.
On Monday, Stubb also reported on the discussions of the tp-utva, i.e. the president of the republic, and the government's foreign and security policy ministerial committee in Helsinki in the morning.
"Finland strongly condemns the Iranian attack and emphasizes the critical importance of de-escalation in the tense situation in the Middle East. Finland and the EU strive to influence all parties so that they refrain from actions that further weaken regional security. Finland will continue to maintain active contact with the countries of the region," states the government's press release from the meeting.
Stubb also talked about comparing to all parties.
President Stubb said on Monday that he had already appealed to the parties before the Iranian attacks so that the situation would not escalate. According to Stubb, communication with the foreign policy leadership was close during the weekend even before Iran's attack on Israel. "We had received a tip that something was happening. We appealed to the parties already at that stage for de-escalation," said Stubb.
It is known that the United States asked its allies to contact the Iranian leadership so that it would not take any countermeasures.
What Stubb left unsaid
What Stubb and almost all Finnish media – with the exception of Naapuriseuran Sanomi – went completely unreported was Iran's request to the UN Security Council to condemn Israel's murderous attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1 with F-35 fighter jets and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Iran announced that it would refrain from a counterattack if the UN Security Council condemns the Israeli strike, which killed e.g. several prominent Iranian generals in the capital of a third country, namely Syria.
However, the United States, Britain and France – the three permanent members of the UN Security Council – blocked the adoption of Iran's desired position. The other two permanent members of the Security Council – Russia and China – had already condemned the Israeli attack and were also ready to accept a statement criticizing the attack in the Security Council.
Finland did not condemn Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate. But now President Stubb and Orpo's government are appealing to both sides – i.e. Iran and Israel – to break the cycle of revenge. Stubb said that Finland had previously also appealed to Iran so that it would refrain from a counterattack.
US Secretary of State Antony blinken asked last week e.g. China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as the foreign ministers of some European countries, to demand that Iran not escalate the situation. Such a request had also been made to Finland. And Finland did the work as ordered.
Stubb's appeals implausible
Finland's new president does not seem to understand that his appeals to Iran are completely implausible.
Stubb would be more credible and he might be listened to in the future if he had taken a critical position on the Israeli strike in Damascus; after all, the murderous attack is completely contrary to international law and the immunity of diplomatic missions.
Along with many countries of the world, the UN representative also condemned Israel's attack, but Finland did not.
The fact that neither the president nor the Finnish government criticized the attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in the capital of Syria with a single word has probably taken away Finland's credibility in Iran's eyes completely. Or at least weakened it significantly.
According to Stubb, Finland will also work actively to ensure that no further attacks take place. In the same breath, however, the president says that he is certain that Israel will strike Iran.
According to the president, it is "clear that based on the comments that have already been made, Israel will make some kind of counterattack at some point." And it sounds downright strange when Stubb says that he understood that Israel is "calmly and calmly" considering how to act.
Stubb has misunderstood. Every day has proven that Israel's leadership has specifically lacked "temper" when the country's armed forces are bombing the Palestinians to death in the Gaza Strip.
9 comments on the post “Stubb wants to buy more weapons from Israel"
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Yes, Finland's current foreign policy is two-faced, the terror of Israel must be immediately condemned, all trade with them must be stopped, as well as the licking of the Yankees.
Right!
So refreshing to read an article in the Finnish media that actually sees the truth, AND is willing to write about it. Well done. Please keep it up.
Stubb is not made for what lies ahead. You can probably say that hardly any of us are. Niinistö took Finland to a place where there is no going forward or going back.
"Stubb has misunderstood. Every day has proven that Israel's leadership has specifically lacked "temper" when the country's armed forces bombed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
President Stubb is not some "bystander" who can get it wrong or be right. He is in the same "elite shoes" that lead the West to global "Orwellandia"
Netanyahu's only and lasting merit remains that he has shown what the much-advertised community of values, to which official Finland belongs, means in practice. Finland and the entire EU, under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, stand firmly by Israel's side. The rest of the world, following the example set by South Africa, is on a different planet.
In this context, we should once again thank YLE, which had allowed journalist Pertti Pesonen's documentary to be seen. Pesonen's documentary is fresh and is circulating in the West Bank because going to Gaza is not possible. That's where the Palestinian perspective and plight can come to the fore. About the Jews, only their internal opposition is interviewed, one representative of which is weak, but the rabbi is articulate. The rabbi is from the United States and has lived in Israel for twenty years. It also illustrates that you have to come from somewhere else to know how to react to injustices and crimes that others have internalized as normal.
In the future, I do not expect a public statement from Stubb that would in any way deviate from the line expressed by the US administration. Stubb would have been pleasantly surprised if he had dared to condemn the recent Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. But that cannot happen because Stubb's foreign policy has only one order: obey the political and military leadership of the United States.
We don't know what Stubb quietly thinks about world affairs. Maybe he has some empathy towards the Palestinians as well. But we won't see or hear that Stubb will engage in independent thinking out loud. He has chosen his master and it is not the people of Finland and its security.
What is the basis of Stubb's claim that Russia wants to conquer the entire EU after defeating the Ukrainian army? To the fact that Russia started a military operation on February 24.2.2022, 2014? Or to the fact that it gave military support to the other side of the Ukrainian civil war in the years 2022-XNUMX?
Because Stubb is a rational person who represents the globalism of the West, as a small boy he has adopted the double standards of the West, which has helped him advance in his political career (just like Sanna Marin and Volodimir Zelensky). But it is quite clear that Stubb's election as president is only a consequence of the change in the morals of the Finnish people, which is caused by the effect of the population structure on the general perception of what is Modern Finland and its place in the world.
In fact, from 2014 to 2022, Russia did not provide _military support_ to the Donbass freedom fighters. Russia was very specific about that, that it was not a party to the war. Russia did give truckloads of humanitarian aid to Donbass. Without it, people might even have starved to death there. On the other hand, around 14000 people died during the bombing of civilian targets in Donbass by the Ukrainian government junta.
Many Russian volunteers did fight among the Donbass freedom fighters, but not Russian soldiers (which is a different matter). There were also Finnish volunteers. One of them Lauri Karhu (possibly a pseudonym) also wrote the book "The Last Bullet" about his experiences. On the opposite side, in addition to the Ukrainian army and the Nazi battalions of Western Ukraine, there were western mercenaries (possibly Finns as well).
Matti Rossi also wrote the book "Donbass rises from the ruins" about those early years of the Ukrainian civil war. However, it may be that you won't be able to find either book in bookstores or libraries in Finland, because they were published by "Johan Bäckman Publications". In Nazi Finland they are forbidden literature. It has come to this - back to the 1930s. At that time only "communist" literature was banned, but all the same - all censorship of literature is fascism in its own right.