Finland’s PM warns Putin’s ‘dark agenda’ a threat to Australia

Australia is exposed to the same “dark agenda” now haunting Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine unleashed war and a global energy crisis, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has warned during a visit to the region to shore up defence and trade ties.

In a call for stronger links between Australia and Europe, she declared liberal democracies had to increase spending on defence and do “whatever it takes” including imposing tougher sanctions and providing more financial support to ensure Russia lost the war.

Finnish PM Sanna Marin’s whirlwind trip to Sydney included a bilateral meeting with Anthony Albanese (and Toto) at Kirribilli House. Credit: Nick Moir

Marin also cited the growing influence of China as a reason to be wary of its technology, a key issue in Australia because of its ban on Chinese technology company Huawei from supplying the National Broadband Network and 5G mobile systems.

With the war in Ukraine now in its 10th month, the Finnish leader said other countries could be “tempted by the same dark agenda” if they saw Russian President Vladimir Putin succeed.

“There are many authoritarian countries that are seeking possibilities of expanding their influence,” she said in an interview on Friday.

“So it’s not only about the invasion of another country or going with military force onto another country’s soil, but it’s also intervening within societies.

“We are also seeing massive disinformation and hybrid threats all across the world and we need to be more prepared in these scenarios as well.

“It’s crucial that Ukraine will win the war so that there is a signal to the world that you cannot gain anything by attacking another country – that you can only lose.”

Marin gave this masthead an exclusive print and digital media interview during a visit to Sydney that included talks on a partnership between Finnish company Nokia and the NBN, a speech to the Lowy Institute and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Kirribilli House.

Marin strongly backed a trade deal between Australia and the European Union that could add $15 billion to both economies with the broader goal of tightening a strategic friendship, making her a key voice against farm lobbies in other EU nations that want to limit sales of Australian dairy, sheep and beef.

Nokia’s Ricky Corker, NBN Co’s Stephen Rue and Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Marin, who became prime minister in 2019 at the age of 34, is one of the youngest national leaders in the world. She combines progressive policies on social welfare – Finland offers 14 months of paid leave for new parents – with a hard-line defence policy that has broken with decades of neutrality by seeking membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and closer defence ties with the United States.

But her time in power has also included global media attention after leaked videos showed her dancing at a party, leading to so many questions she took a drug test to rebuff media claims about her behaviour. (She tested negative).

Asked about the intense media focus after that story went viral on social media, she was diplomatic. “It’s wise as a politician not to comment on what media can or cannot ask. It’s the journalist’s job,” she said. “So I fully understand that and I will answer all questions but I’m focusing my time on different ones.”

In the first visit to Australia by a serving prime minister of Finland, Marin brought a business delegation in the hope of securing more access to Australian raw materials and boosting technology trade between liberal democracies, with a message that it was “time to stop being naive” about authoritarian countries.

“I think there has been an age of hope that there wouldn’t be wars, that there wouldn’t be this kind of conflict in the world,” she said.

“It’s a beautiful idea, the world without conflicts and wars, and that’s what we want and that is what I want, but we cannot be naive because not everybody wants that. There are countries that are questioning the rules-based order, that are questioning our democratic values, and we have to make sure that we show our strengths.

“We cannot afford to be naive. It is to do with our critical dependencies: we have to learn from the COVID-19 crisis, we have to learn from the war, we have to learn from the energy crisis that we are now in.”

Marin said Finland was spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence – a target also for the Australian government – and said European nations should be spending more to make sure they did not have to rely so heavily on the US to assist Ukraine.

Eight decades after the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland, which ended with Finland ceding territory to its neighbour, Marin said Finland was spending more on defence and other countries were realising they had to do the same.

“You have to put money to defence, you have to have modern military equipment, not because you want to go to war, but because you want to prevent it,” she said.

“You need that strength. That will also pose a threat to those who might seek war.”

Asked if Australia was right to ban Huawei from the NBN and future 5G systems, she backed the concern and pointed to Nokia and Swedish company Ericsson as alternatives.

“We need to make sure that there aren’t that kind of vulnerabilities that might put our countries at risk,” she said.

“One aspect of that is the discussion concerning Chinese technology such as Huawei. And I think it’s very good that we are having that discussion. We cannot be naive when it comes to these digital solutions as well.”

Marin said Russia must not be allowed to breach international law with impunity, must be held accountable for its war crimes in Ukraine and was wholly responsible for the energy crisis now hurting the global economy.

The end of the war would have to be peace on Ukraine’s terms, she added, and other countries should do “whatever it takes” to ensure that outcome.

The discussion between Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Anthony Albanese included the treatment of First Nations people.Credit: Nick Moir

In a sign of Marin’s total rejection of the Russian invasion, her government in recent weeks halted visas for Russian tourists – a step other EU countries have been reluctant to take – on the grounds it was “morally unacceptable” to allow them into Finland when their government was inflicting war crimes in Ukraine.

Marin, who joined the Social Democratic Party at 20, leads a coalition government backed by five political parties and run by a cabinet of nine men and 10 women.

“I represent the younger generation,” she told Finland’s public broadcaster in October last year. “It feels sometimes that my mere existence is a provocation to some.”

A vocal supporter of recognition for the Indigenous people of Finland, the Sami, the prime minister was asked at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Friday whether Australia could learn from the way Finland had set up a parliament for the Sami.

With Australia debating an Indigenous Voice to parliament, Marin responded by saying it was important to recognise “we haven’t done right” by Indigenous people and that the approach in Finland was to offer First Nations people more autonomy.

Albanese raised the subject when he met Marin at Kirribilli House.

“Australia has always looked … to Scandinavian countries, particularly my party, for the advanced position that you have had on gender equality, in dealing with reconciliation with First Nations people,” Albanese told Marin.

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