Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Uk in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP
Finland’s prime minister said Ukraine showed Europe is too reliant on the US for security.
“I must be brutally honest with you, Europe isn’t strong enough right now,” Sanna Marin said.
“We would be in trouble without the United States,” Marin added.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Friday said the Ukraine war revealed Europe is too reliant on the US for its security.
“I must be brutally honest with you, Europe isn’t strong enough right now. We would be in trouble without the United States,” Marin said during remarks at a think tank in Sydney, Australia, per Reuters.
“The United States has given a lot of weapons, a lot of financial aid, a lot of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Europe isn’t strong enough yet,” Marin said. “We have to make sure that we are building those capabilities when it comes to European defence.”
The US has provided Ukraine with far more security assistance than any other country — roughly $19.1 billion since Russia launched the invasion in late February.
Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine marks the first major conflict in Europe since World War II, and it’s prompted a more urgent discussions on European security and the continent’s reliance on the US. It also pushed Finland and Sweden — two countries that have historically been neutral or militarily non-aligned — to join NATO (the process for their accession is ongoing).
In a speech last month to European diplomats, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell questioned how the US would’ve handled the Ukraine war if former President Donald Trump was in office versus President Joe Biden.
Trump was often critical of US security commitments in Europe, and frequently lambasted NATO allies over their lower levels of defense spending compared to the US. The former president’s first impeachment was also related do his dealings with Ukraine, including freezing aid to Kyiv as he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch an investigation into Biden over bogus allegations of corruption.
Along these lines, Borrell contended that Europe needs to take more steps to ensure it’s not so reliant on Washington.
“What would have happened if, instead of Biden, it would have been Trump or someone like him in the White House? What would have been the answer of the United States to the war in Ukraine? What would have been our answer in a different situation?” Borrell said, adding, “These are some questions that we have to ask ourselves. And the answer for me is clear: We need to shoulder more responsibilities ourselves. We have to take a bigger part of our responsibility in securing security. “