Europe has the ability to lead with confidence, stand firmly on its own feet, and shape its own future. This was President Metsola's message in Helsinki as she addressed an event organised by the Paasikivi Society.
Dear Antti, dear members of the Paasikivi Society, dear friends, Hyvää iltapäivää. It is really good to be back. Coming back to Helsinki always feels like coming home. As many of you know, Finland is part of my life in ways that go well beyond politics. I know these are not easy times. And I was asked to exchange with you as to what our perspective is from the European Parliament. In a nutshell, people are worried – this is a sense we get from everywhere - and they have every right to be. We have a war being fought on our continent. Energy costs are squeezing families. The world feels less certain, less predictable than it did even a few years ago. What you might expect is perhaps a message of fear. But I did not come to give that. I came to give the opposite. I come with a message of conviction, because I know that Europe, against all odds, has what it takes. Europe has been here before. Not in exactly this form, not with exactly these pressures, but at the edge of a moment that demands more than caution, more than half-measures. I have just come from a meeting with President Stubb, and he calls this Europe’s 1989 moment, and I believe he is right. Because just as the fall of the Wall demanded bold decisions, so does this time. Small steps will not cut it. If anything, we need giant leaps. That is why I am here. I take it upon myself to visit as many Member States on the ground as possible, to speak with various parts of societies. Today, after this, I will meet with your Prime Minister, and tomorrow I will visit the Parliament and meet all the representatives of the Political Groups. And I am really happy to see a number of colleagues here from the Members of Parliament. Thank you for being here. I think this week, there is particular reason for hope. The people of Hungary have chosen Europe. It was moving to see those scenes in Budapest: young people, spontaneously and joyfully waving the European flag, chanting for a future built on freedom, on democracy, on the belief that their lives in a way belong to them. Those young people have placed their trust in our Europe. It now falls to us to show that they were right to place their trust in us. This is what our Europe is about. A living idea, rooted in liberty, in the conviction fundamentally that free people can build something together worth defending, and that is worth passing on. That idea has outlasted empires. It has restored nations from rubble. It has turned ancient rivals into lasting partners. And it is as vital today as it has ever been. I look at this country as one that has always seen this world with a particular kind of clarity. And there is a reason for that. The 1,300 kilometres of shared border with Russia, the enormous sacrifice made to defend this country’s sovereignty and independence, all of it is woven into how Finland thinks and how Finland plans. You warned us. Poland warned us. The Baltic states warned us, year after year, about who our neighbours were and what they were capable of. We should have listened sooner. Very clearly, openly. But we are listening now, and - more importantly - we are acting. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many predicted that Europe would not hold. The most common criticism we would get at the time was that we were too slow, we were too divided, and we were too comfortable. They told us that Ukraine would fall in days. We are now in year five of Putin’s three-day war. And far from fracturing, if anything Europe has come together in ways that would have seemed unimaginable before February 2022. From the very first days, in the European Parliament specifically, we stood for Ukraine, we pushed for sanctions against Russia – we are now at the 20th package - and urged Europe to take real responsibility for its own security. This is not a given. This was not touched upon before 2022. Think about where we were four years ago and where we stand today. Finland and Sweden joining NATO, a decision of historic courage and clarity. European defence spending rising by more than 60%. NATO countries moving toward 5% of GDP on defence. 800 billion euros mobilised for Europe’s defence readiness. That is a continent that has decided to stand on its own two feet. We saw that same resolve on Greenland. When others signalled that the sovereignty of nations could be treated as negotiable, as an open question to be revisited by those with the power to do so, Europe did not hesitate. We rallied. We made our position super clear. We showed that when Europe chooses to project power, it can. Not through bluster, not through threats, but through unity, through solidarity, through the simple and powerful act of standing together - which has always been, and always will be, Europe’s strength. The Arctic is where the next chapter of European security will be written. Energy routes, critical infrastructure, military presence, the geopolitics of melting ice, these will be defining contests of the coming decades, and Europe must be ready for them. We’re already seeing that readiness in Finland’s leadership of NATO’s Arctic Sentry operation, and in the recent appointment of Jyrki Katainen as the EU’s Special Adviser for Arctic relations. I think this sends exactly the right signal at the right moment. And Finland’s contribution to European defence does not stop at the High North. Finnish companies like Summa Defence, manufacturing drone systems here and supplying them directly to Ukrainian forces, these are exactly the kind of defence innovation Europe needs more of. When we talk about strategic autonomy, this is what it would look like in practice, tangibly, concretely. You can be proud of your leaders in Helsinki, in Brussels and Strasbourg - of your President, your Prime Minister, your European Commissioner and Executive Vice-President, and your Members of the European Parliament, all of them making the case, every single day, for a stronger, more capable, more united Europe. Finland has always understood something much of the rest of Europe – and I see this coming from the opposite end of the continent - is still learning: that security and prosperity are two sides of the same coin. And nowhere is that clearer right now than in the Middle East. Our thoughts are, first and foremost, with the people of the region, who have suffered enormously and continue to. But the consequences of that instability are reaching well beyond the region, they are pushing energy costs higher - and things will become more difficult before they become easier - they are squeezing families and businesses across our continent. We are relieved that a ceasefire has been established, and we are clear that all sides must act in good faith. And I know that tomorrow, President Stubb will be joining other heads of state and government to find a way forward, to de-escalate, and to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Europe is needed around that table. The transatlantic relationship has been the foundation of the free world for 80 years, and our first point is that we want to preserve it. We will work to preserve it. But not at any cost. There has to be trust, there has to be mutual respect. These things we have been very clear about, and we will continue to be. Bill Clinton once said of his country that “people around the world have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.” While those words were meant for an American audience, I think they also describe something we in Europe have always understood about ourselves. The power of our example is our founding logic. It is how we rebuilt this continent from the ruins of the worst war in human history. It is how we extended the circle of freedom, generation after generation. It is how we project who we are and what we stand for, not through force, but through the strength of what we have built together. Our Europe has transformed countries, it has changed lives, and has opened up horizons that a generation ago would have seemed impossible. We have done this before - in harder circumstances, with fewer resources, against longer odds - and we are doing it now. We just have to be prepared for it. We have to be united in doing it. Those young people on the streets waving European flags were right to choose Europe. Now it is our turn to deliver it for them. Kiitos. You can read the President's speech in Finnish here.