Finnish Ambassador: Supporting Kosovo in EU, KiE, NATO Membership

On the day Finland became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), Ambassador Nissen in an interview for The Geopost guaranteed that this country would continue its support for Kosovo.

“Finland has been committed to the security and stability here in the Balkans for many years and we will certainly continue to do so”, Nissien said.

“Since the time of President Martti Ahtisaari we have been fully committed to promoting Kosovo's future in European and Euro-Atlantic organisations, and we will certainly continue to give that firm support to Kosovo even in the future of”, he added.

Ambassador Nissien said Finland's NATO membership is historic.

“We were too close NATO already earlier with exercises in various joint activities with NATO, at the same time many things remain the same as Finland, but still this is an important historic day for us”, the Finnish ambassador said.

In the message sent to the people of Kosovo, Finland's ambassador to Pristina stated that support for our country would continue in Finnish politics.

Our political leaders have repeatedly and publicly stressed that Finland supports Kosovo's various international memberships in the organisation, whether in the Council of Europe or the European Union or ultimately NATO membership, and our politicians have said it publicly and I am happy to repeat it here with you today, and that is something that will definitely continue in Finnish politics.

In this interview, Ambassador Nissien has also talked about what Finland offers in terms of security in NATO.

Total interview:

Sir Ambassador, congratulations on Finland's NATO membership. What Will Change for Finland and for NATO today after formal membership in this alliance?

Thank you, first of all, for congratulations, is a truly historic day for Finland and I would say that even for European security architecture, this is a very important day.

As we speak, Finland becomes the 31st NATO member state, so it is a very big day for us Finnishs, and with this membership Finland becomes a full NATO member, which of course means Article 5 of the collective defence guarantee for Finland.

This is something that will definitely change for Finland, but at the same time we've been very close. NATO already earlier with exercises in various joint activities with NATO, at the same time many things remain the same as Finland, but still this is an important historical day for us.

We read the statements of some Russian officials that they are unhappy about your country's membership in NATO, is this some threat to Finland now?

First of all, we don't consider there is any military threat to Finland, our policies and actions are such that we intend to increase stability and peace in our region and beyond, so this is the starting point for Finland's politics.

We consider ourselves a security provider, not a consumer, so this is a very important element of Finnish politics and it will not change even with NATO membership at the same time, we have certainly cared for our national protection for many years and we will continue to develop our defence forces in the future.

Now as a NATO member, what can Finland do more for Balkan states, and especially Kosovo?

Finland has been committed to security and stability here in the Balkans for many and many years and we will certainly continue to do so.

Since the time of President Martti Ahtisaari, we have been fully committed to promoting Kosovo's future in European and Euro-Atlantic organisations, and we will certainly continue to give that steadfast support to Kosovo even in the future.

We've been very actively present for many years here in the country, whether in KFOR troops or EU missions, this is something we're still committed to promoting.

Your message to the people of Kosovo?

Our political leaders have repeatedly and publicly stressed that Finland supports Kosovo's various international memberships in the organisation, whether in the Council of Europe or the European Union or ultimately NATO membership, and our politicians have said it publicly and I am happy to repeat it here with you today, and that is something that will definitely continue in Finnish politics.