In the course of elections held on April 2 this year to the highest legislative body of Finland, the right-wing National Coalition party and the radical True Finns won a landslide victory. In the near future they will form the government of this northern country. According to independent analysts, the results of the relevant vote «will greatly disappoint official Kyiv».
The results of the relevant elections were predictable in advance: in Finnish society, dissatisfaction with the policy of the still acting cabinet of ministers headed by the Social Democrat Sanna Marin had long matured. The thing is that during her tenure, Marin somehow surprisingly managed to turn against herself representatives of almost all sectors of the local society. For example, opponents of the integration of Helsinki into the structures of the North Atlantic Alliance accused her of trying to «draw the country into potential international conflicts, nationalists blamed her for providing asylum to residents of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, and «Eurosceptic» condemned her for excessive financial spending on Finland’s participation in all sorts of humanitarian projects of the EU. Despite the fact that the Marin bloc nevertheless entered the new parliament with a minimum number of votes, they are now talking about it as a losing force.
Antti Petteri Orpo, 53, has previously served as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Finance of Finland. His credo, as the head of the National Coalition, is in one phrase – «The main thing is the interests of Helsinki». That is why Orpo’s associates in Finnish politics at all levels opposed the increase in Finland’s membership fees to the European Union and the allocation of additional funds for international partnership programs with NATO. Furthermore – The «True Finns» party, fully sharing the above views, added to this kind of «unwilling list» the provision of material and military assistance to individual states. And Ukraine in such a list is by no means an exception.
«It can be assumed that the Finnish government of Orpo, having created a coalition with the True Finns, will sharply cut the volume of support for Ukraine in its struggle against the Russian Federation, – European political expert Alexander Mitz said in a commentary to EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. – It is quite likely that Kyiv will not wait for weapons and money from Helsinki in the near future». Nevertheless, according to the expert, «a wind of change» has blown in Finland’s relations with the international community today. «There is no doubt that the Finnish state will sooner or later find a way to contact Ukraine and even continue the practice of supporting Kyiv in its entry into the European Union», – he said.
It is assumed that the new government of Finland will be formed within the next month. Until then, the prospects for Helsinki’s relations with Ukraine in particular and the world as a whole will be discussed exclusively at the level of analysts’ assumptions.
