Finnish Prime Minister: 'Moscow Is Provoking a Number of Its Neighbors'

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/finnish-prime-minister-discusses-possible-nato-membership-a-994356.html



In an interview, Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, 46, discusses relations with neighboring Russia and his country's flirtation with NATO. He says Finland will make a decision "without asking for permission."

Finnish Prime Minister: 'Moscow Is Provoking a Number of Its Neighbors'
Interview Conducted by Dieter Bednarz
September 29, 2014 – 01:08 PM

SPIEGEL: Mr. Stubb, Moscow is following with great concern just how sympathetic you are to the idea of Finland joining NATO. Do you see it as a threat when President Vladimir Putin speaks of the "special attention" he devotes to economic relations with your country?

Stubb: Russia for us is a large, powerful neighbor with which we share a 1,300 kilometer-long (810-mile) border and against which we have waged war in the past. We know how the Kremlin speaks and acts. But I'm not anxious or afraid, because Finland is an integral part of the European Union.

SPIEGEL: Putin confidant Sergei Markov has explicitly warned of the consequences of NATO membership, saying it could trigger a World War III.

Stubb: Rhetoric can be razor sharp, and just as one needs to take some comments seriously, others should not be.