Finnish PM: “Invasion of Ukraine shows that Europe is too dependent on the US”

On a visit to Australia, Marin said he wanted to help his neighbors “in every way”. He added that the United States is playing a key role in providing Kiev with the weapons, financial resources and humanitarian aid it needs to halt Russia’s advance.

Since joining the EU in 2004, Estonia and Poland have repeatedly called for tougher action against Vladimir Putin. That stance has been tempered by France, Germany, Italy and Greece, which have argued for closer economic ties with Moscow in recent decades. “We should have listened to our Baltic and Polish friends,” says Marin.

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“Europe has long developed a strategy towards Russia to strengthen our economic ties and buy energy from the Russians. We thought this would prevent a war, but this approach turns out to be “completely wrong”.

The head of the Finnish government argues that “European defense and European defense sector capabilities must be increased so that we can handle different types of situations”.

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