Finland’s president on why he believes Canada could — eventually — be part of the EU
By Brock Wilson
Alexander Stubb is in Ottawa to talk trade, Arctic defence with Carney
Finnish President Alexander Stubb says he exchanges messages with Prime Minister Mark Carney almost every day.
“We’re tight,” Stubb said with a smile.
Now, Stubb and Carney have the opportunity to talk in person.
Stubb is in Ottawa for his first official bilateral meetings with Canada’s prime minister. The pair are working to develop trade and defence ties, according to Carney’s office.
“With shared interests, values and a commitment to international security, I look forward to hosting President Stubb to deepen our partnership to create stability, security and prosperity for both our peoples,” Carney wrote in a statement.
One of the ways Stubb said he maintains that partnership is through regular communication.
He said that being the leader of a “small country” means that “information is power.”
“If I have a piece of information, I’ll send it to Mark. If Mark has a piece of information, he might inform me,” Stubb said in an interview with CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
But Stubb said their bond goes beyond a personal rapport.
“I think Finns and Canadians are quite similar,” he said. “We’re cool, calm and collected except in the ice hockey rink. And then when the going gets tough, we go to the sauna and take an ice bath and calm down.”
It’s part of the reason why Stubb believes Canada could eventually be a part of the European Union.
“I think Canada in terms of its whole composure, its value base, is so close to the European Union that the least we can do is to forge a really close strategic partnership,” he said.
“I can envisage a much larger EU, whether Canada is a part of it or not is up to Canada to decide.
While joining the EU may not be in Canada’s immediate future, Carney has been developing trade ties with countries including India, China and the five Nordic countries as part of an effort to diversify from the U.S.
Carney has called the Trump administration’s weaponization of trade through the use of tariffs a “rupture” to the global order.
While Stubb doesn’t use the same “tough language” as Carney, he does believe a transformation is taking place.
“I think foreign policy and diplomacy is never completely binary. It’s not black and white, unless we go into war,” he said.
“We agree on the fact that the world order is changing.”
While that change may be coming, for now, Finland and Canada must maintain their relationship with the U.S., particularly regarding security, Stubb said.
Canada, Finland and the U.S. are all part of a trilateral agreement: the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, which is meant to help produce icebreaker ships to strengthen Arctic security.
That introduces another world leader into the fray, one that Stubb says he also maintains a texting relationship with: U.S. President Donald Trump.
Stubb says that when it comes to his role in maintaining trilateral relations between Finland, Canada and the United States, he has to be “very pragmatic.”
“So understand that we disagree on some things like climate or international institutions, but understand that it’s in our mutual interest that we co-operate on things like defence,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I’m an optimist. If you don’t know how things are going to end up, assume that they will end up all good.”
The full interview with Alexander Stubb will air on CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live on April 19.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Canadian Coast Guard tests Arctic surveillance drone as air force delivery stalls, CBC News
Finland: European Commission names former Finnish PM as EU-Arctic relations advisor, Eye on the Arctic
Greenland: Denmark to expand Arctic surveillance with purchase of long-range drones, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Norwegian police move training north as Russia eyes body-snatching law, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Arctic militarization could lead to ‘unintentional incidents’ in region, Russia warns, The Canadian Press
