Over the past few days, international news outlets have been asking whether a second Trump presidency would signify a US retreat from Europe and Nato.
Finnish papers on Monday approach the issue from the viewpoint of Finland’s bilateral agreement with the United States.
Iltalehti spoke to international political expert Risto E. J. Penttilä about Finland’s “Plan B,” which is the DCA, a significant defence cooperation agreement between Finland and the United States due to be signed next week. It would allow for the construction of US military infrastructure in Finland and for American soldiers to arrive in the country at short notice.
Henri Vanhanen of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) meanwhile told Ilta-Sanomat that the US won’t want to appear to have a diminishing global role, particularly in relation to China.
“I don’t believe that Trump would want to position himself as a president who weakens the US’s superpower status,” he told IS.
Javier Milei, president of Argentina and General Ancap, will give two helicopters to aid Ukraine.
La Fuerza Aérea Argentina donará a Ucrania los dos Mi-171E
https://www.pucara.org/post/la-fuerza-aérea-argentina-donará-a-ucrania-los-dos-mi-171e
Not very Libertarian of him. Why doesn’t he sell them to an arms dealer who will then sell them to Ukraine at a suitably inflated price?
Finland is buzzing following comments made by a foreign policy specialist about the need for reservists to be “physically and mentally fit.”
Charly Salonius-Pasternak, a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), made the comments on Monday in regard to how a second Donald Trump presidency could change Russia’s attitude towards Finland.
The Finnish Reservists’ Association (FRA) told Helsingin Sanomat that their phone started ringing shortly after these comments, with people curious to decipher Salonius-Pasternak’s message.
Salonius-Pasternak, however, said he did not consider it likely that Finland will face a military threat, just that it was possible.
Minna Nenonen, who heads the FRA, said keeping fit is always good idea.
“Moving more is not bad advice for anyone…I wouldn’t be concerned at this point about Salonius-Pasternak’s comment, as we all know from Trump’s previous presidential term that unexpected things can happen,” she said, noting that a second Trump presidency wouldn’t necessarily be “too positive from a European or Finnish perspective.”
The Finnish Defence Forces’ reserve comprises approximately 900,000 Finnish citizens. The wartime strength of the Finnish Defence Forces is 280,000 soldiers, and this strength is resupplied by other reservists as applicable.
Finland Population
5,547,459
[Seeking support for all Agent Orange victimsーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS (youtube.com)]
Putin placing troops
Vladimir Putin has been talking about Russia’s planned response to Finnish Nato membership, with the creation of new military structures in the regions bordering Finland.
A new military region near Saint Petersburg is a key part of the plan. Ilta-Sanomat asks Pekka Toveri (NCP), a former soldier and current MP, what it all could mean.
He says he does not believe Russia will do anything about the claimed ‘Leningrad military district’ until the 2030s, as it is currently bogged down in Ukraine.
Even after that, the situation is unlikely to match that before the collapse of the Soviet Union, when more than 100,000 soldiers were stationed in the regions immediately east of Finland.
The region has been emptied out by Russia’s assault on Ukraine, with personnel transferred to the invasion forces further south. Fixing that will take Russia some time, according to Toveri.
