Former Finnish President Tarja Halonen dismissed the notion that Finland's foreign and security policy towards Russia during her presidency from 2000 to 2012 was naive.
"I don't believe it [was naive]. It was quite clear that the whole time we were working together [with Russia], at the same time we were building defence forces that were compatible [with Nato]. During my time and afterwards," Halonen said in an interview with Yle ahead of her 80th birthday on Christmas Eve.
She discouraged hindsight criticism, stating, "media, and especially social media, opinions change so swiftly; it's unwise to build a long-term strategy on that."
Halonen strongly condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, emphasising support for Ukraine and the need for unity among government branches.
Russia policy matched international norm
According to Halonen, Finland's policy towards Russia during her presidency was in line with that of the United States and other European countries.
"As for who should have set off alarm bells, it is certainly not the President of Finland, who would have been the change agent of international opinion," Halonen added.
Reflecting on Finland's military non-alignment and her opposition to Nato membership during her presidency, Halonen highlighted the importance of public support.
"Nato's rules required popular support for joining," Halonen said, continuing that at the time, only 20 percent of the Finnish population supported joining Nato and 80 percent were opposed. The most recent poll of Nato support showed 80 percent of Finns supporting membership in the defence alliance.
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Did Russia face discrimination?
After her presidency, in 2016 Halonen stated that the Finnish media was exacerbating tensions in the Baltic Sea region. In 2020, she wondered whether the West had provided a basis to the Russian perception that Russia was being discriminated against.
"I suppose the West did to some extent [discriminate against Russia]. Again, Finland is by no means decisive, but relations between Russia and the US have played a role," Halonen said.
According to Halonen, that is the view in the United States, especially on the left wing of the Democrats, and to some extent in Europe too.
"I myself have been more cautious and said that there is only one historical truth. We cannot know whether the outcome would have been different if the US or the major Western powers had behaved differently," Halonen noted.
Divisiveness of social media
Critiquing social media, Halonen expressed concern about its divisive nature.
Social media has given a wide audience the opportunity to express their opinion, she noted.
"However, it has not increased mutual understanding, but it has been very divisive in nature," Halonen said.
The former Social Democratic Party (SDP) politician acknowledged receiving negative feedback due to her stances on various issues.
"Being a leftist woman who advocated for minorities and good relations with all our neighbours gave plenty of reasons for criticism," Halonen said.
Halonen appreciated Finland's multiparty system for fostering dialogue.
"We couldn't imagine a single-party government. That we would be either for or against. It maintains some kind of a dialogue."
Presidential popularity
Both Halonen and current Finnish President Sauli Niinistö enjoyed very high approval ratings during their times in office, going above 90 percent.
"I think Finns are fair in the sense that when we have a direct popular vote, they are like, okay, this is what I chose," Halonen said regarding presidential popularity.
Halonen also turned her attention to the upcoming presidential election in January.
"Most of these are good candidates. I would like to see a woman elected again for a change," Halonen said. Halonen is Finland's first woman president.
Halonen has earlier said that she will support SDP candidate Jutta Urpilainen.
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