Nina Vaskunlathi & Wolfgang Mühlberger: EUROPEAN SECURITY – A NORTHERN PERSPECTIVE

Eva Nowotny in conversation with Nina Vaskunlathi und Wolfgang Mühlberger

EUROPEAN SECURITY – A NORTHERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia´s illegal military aggression against Ukraine and the aggressive stance of President Putin against Europe have led in almost all European countries to a reevaluation of their security situation and policies. In view of the profoundly changed security environment in Europe, the Government of Finland – with its 1343 km common border and a historically charged relationship to Russia – applied for NATO-membership in May 2022. Finland´s neighbor Sweden did so simultaneously. – In both countries, this historic step ending a long period of non-alignment – was based on broad support in the population. Finland became NATO-member in July 2023, Sweden in March 2024.

Eva Nowotny will discuss with her guests Nina Vaskunlahti, Ambassador of Finland in Austria, and Wolfgang Mühlberger from the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation the impact of NATO-membership on Finland´s foreign and security policy as well as their expectations and ideas for the European Union and the Western Alliance in a conflict-ridden international situation.

Nina Vaskunlahti, Ambassador of Finland in Austria
Wolfgang Mühlberger, Senior Advisor MENA & Strategy at CMI / Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
Eva Nowotny, Ambassador ret., Vice-President of Bruno Kreisky Forum