«Russia has imperialist ambitions concerning its neighbors and this is not likely to change. What we can do is deter Russia from furthering those ambitions. The Budapest memorandum showed us that ad hoc arrangements had a very limited,  deterring value. NATO is currently the one entity whose security guarantees Russia takes seriously. Therefore, we’re in favour of opening to Ukraine a pathway to a membership in NATO», Mr. Jussi Halla-aho, Speaker of the Eduskunta of the Republic of Finland

«Russia has imperialist ambitions concerning its neighbors and this is not likely to change. What we can do is deter Russia from furthering those ambitions. The Budapest memorandum showed us that ad hoc arrangements had a very limited,  deterring value. NATO is currently the one entity whose security guarantees Russia takes seriously. Therefore, we’re in favour of opening to Ukraine a pathway to a membership in NATO», Mr. Jussi Halla-aho, Speaker of the Eduskunta of the Republic of Finland

As part of the plenary session of the Second Parliamentary Summit of the Crimea Platform, Mr Jussi Halla-aho, the Speaker of the Eduskunta of the Republic of Finland, shared his thoughts on the top priorities in collective response regarding European security order.

«Russia has imperialist ambitions concerning its neighbors and this is not likely to change. What we can do is deter Russia from furthering those ambitions. The Budapest memorandum showed us that ad hoc arrangements had a very limited, deterring value. NATO is currently the one entity whose security guarantees Russia takes seriously. Therefore, we’re in favour of opening to Ukraine a pathway to a membership in NATO», Mr. Halla-aho stated.

The parliamentarian stressed the importance of refraining from conveying any signals of fatigue or concessions to Putin. «At the moment the most important and the most urgent thing is to make sure that Russia will not achieve in Ukraine anything that it could interpret as its victory. Mr. Putin is watching us and looking for signs of us getting tired or running out of resilience. It is crucially important that we do not send him any signals that might feed these hopes», Mr. Jussi Halla-aho added.

Mr. Halla-aho believes that a proper response in 2014 could have prevented the 2022 invasion, considering NATO membership a potent deterrent to Russia’s imperialist ambitions. He emphasized that aid to Ukraine must be strategic, combining political will with military capability. «Political will alone is not enough. Even money alone is not enough. European countries must also ramp up their ability to produce weapons and ammunition. We must make it clear to Mr. Putin that time is not working for him, that time is not on his side», commented Jussi Halla-aho, the  Speaker of the Eduskunta of the Republic of Finland.