Europe is able to defend itself, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
He was taking part in a panel discussion on Europe’s defence capabilities with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Polish President Karol Nawrocki and others.
"A direct answer to the question of this panel: Can Europe defend itself? My answer is unequivocally yes," Stubb said, offering his views on how Nato might look like without US assistance.
Stubb pointed out to Finland’s own military as an example. He asserted that Finland, together with Poland, has the biggest artillery in Europe, including long-range missiles for land, sea and air.
"Can the Finnish military defend itself against a Russian attack? Yes,” the president said. "We have the biggest military force of Arctic capabilities in the alliance. We have conscription. One million have done it. We can mobilise 280,000 soldiers within weeks.
Stubb stressed the interdependence of Europe and the US, acknowledging for instance that Finnish fighter jets can't fly without US technology.
"We have 62 F-18s. Your next question is do they fly with Americans? No, they don't. But do we trust that they're going to continue to fly because it's in the interest of America do so? Yes," Stubb said.
Greenland: "We’ll find an off-ramp"
Stubb stressed the importance of societal resilience as well as military capabilities.
"You fight wars on the battlefield, but you win them at home…all of us need to focus more on comprehensive security on the civilian side of things," he said, adding: "That’s why we have civilian shelters for 4.4 million Finns" as well as supplies to avoid shortages in food, energy and electricity.
Stubb said that he believed a diplomatic solution could be found to the crisis over US demands regarding Greenland, and threats of additional tariffs on European countries that oppose them.
He used an American baseball metaphor, saying that there are "at times curveballs flying in different types of directions". However, Stubb said: "I think at the end of the day, we’ll find an off-ramp on this."
Stubb is representing Finland in Davos alongside Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio (Finns).
22 Jan: Removed phrase "without the United States" from headline and body text; added more context.
