Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received yesterday in Madrid the Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, with whom he agreed to intensify economic relations within the framework of their respective recovery plans. Likewise, both leaders agreed on the need to address the situation in Ukraine through diplomacy and warned that any military action by Russia (Finland’s neighboring country) would have “massive consequences” for Moscow.
“Spain and Finland we are more alike than an analysis based only on the geographical dimension could conclude,” Sánchez said at the press conference following the meeting. “Finland and Spain think alike on many things. We can cooperate well on many EU issues, as well as between our countries,” the Finnish leader said, for her part.
During the meeting, Sánchez and Marin pledged to take advantage of the Next Generation EU funds and the commonalities of the respective recovery plans to collaborate on digitalization in order to “transform our economies in a reformist spirit,” said the President of the Government. For her part, Marin stressed that the EU recovery plan opens “new opportunities for Finland to intensify trade cooperation in Spain” in digitalization and green transition.
Trade relations between Spain and Finland are eminently industrial, especially in semi-manufactured products, machinery and intermediate goods, according to Moncloa. Although there are few Spanish companies in Finland, a group of them are currently collaborating to develop the country’s wind power sector. Apart from that, more than 750,000 Finnish tourists visited Spain each year before the pandemic. “The Finns know our country well and know that we are a safe destination,” Sánchez said.
Russia
In their shared status as the “outer limit of the European Union,” Spain and Finland can “better understand the complexity of neighborly relations,” the President of the Government stated. Thus, the two leaders inevitably addressed the crisis in Ukraine, which is of particular concern to Finland because of its strong historical, geographical, economic and cultural ties with Russia.
“Spain supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” Sánchez warned. “Today, the Finnish Prime Minister and I share the concern about the evolution of events, as well as the conviction that this is the time for diplomacy, détente and dialogue,” continued the President of the Government, who, however, warned Russia that “if what nobody wants to happen happens, there will obviously be massive and very serious consequences for its economy in terms of sanctions.” In the same vein, Marin warned that “further military action by Russia would have far-reaching consequences and a high price.”
Finland is not a member of NATO, although it has been part of the Alliance’s group of partners since 2014. However, Sanna Marin herself declared last January 1 that her country reserves the option of applying for NATO membership in view of Russia’s new military strategy. Following those statements, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that NATO membership would entail “serious political and military consequences” for the Nordic country. Finland shares a 1,340 kilometer border with Russia (from which it gained independence in 1917), is almost totally dependent on Russia for its oil and gas supplies and has a large Russian-speaking community. Finland’s Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, met last Monday in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
