Anna Wieslander spoke on the opening panel at the first-ever Helsinki Security Forum. She spoke on lessons learned since the full-scale war in Ukraine began. First was that “Ukraine is part of Europe” and needs to be a part of the European community. There needed to be further rounds of EU enlargement to other contested spaces, such as in the Baltics, to ensure European peace, prosperity, and security. Secondly was the indispensable role of the United States for European security, as evidenced by US military and humanitarian support to Ukraine. NATO is the framework within which European security will be ensured, not the European Union. Finally, that unity is the ultimate strength of the West.
Speakers Included Antti Kaikkonen, Minister of Defence of Finland; Pavlo Klimkin, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Andrew Michta, Dean, College of International and Security Studies, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
Further reading
Tue, Jun 28, 2022
What Turkey won with its NATO leverage
Fast Thinking By
Ankara got exactly what it wanted in exchange for paving the way for Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance.
Fri, May 13, 2022
Why Finland and Sweden can join NATO with unprecedented speed
New Atlanticist By Christopher Skaluba, Anna Wieslander
Both have put in the prescient and painstaking work to make a potential transition from partner to member so straightforward.
Wed, Mar 30, 2022
All security is local: Arctic defense policies and domain awareness
Report By
This report maps Arctic allies' and partners' defense strategies and domain awareness capabilities to make recommendations for enhancing Arctic security.