Finnish, Spanish PMs for rising defence spending in Europe

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday underscored the need for European Unity and increasing defence spending in the European countries.

The Premiers at meeting in Helsinki discussed various issues including boosting assistance to Ukraine and strengthening European defence, said an official press release.

Based on the outcome of last week’s Special European Council, they discussed how to finance initiatives to strengthen European defence.

“We need a clear vision for how to build a European pillar of NATO within the next 5–10 years,” said Prime Minister Orpo. We must begin this work immediately,” said Orpo at a press conference after the meeting.

He said after last week’s Special European Council, it is even clearer that the EU will support Ukraine in every way it can.

“Russia is a permanent threat to Europe as a whole. That is why, in addition to supporting Ukraine, we must strengthen European security,” said Orpo.

Sanchez reaffirmed Spain's commitment to strengthening European defense and stressed the need for joint financing to tackle common security challenges, reported Xinhua, quoting a press release issued by Spanish government.

He highlighted that Spain is prepared to meet the target of allocating two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to defense.

He noted that European security encompasses a broad range of issues, from active conflicts to cyberattacks, energy crises, and climate-related disasters. In this context, Sanchez underscored the importance of fostering innovation and competitiveness in the defense industry.

The two prime ministers also discussed bilateral relations and other key issues including competitiveness and migration.

They also noted that Finland and Spain have a good political relationship that has grown closer in recent years, said a press release issued by Finnish government.

The two countries have also seen an increase in trade. Last year, Finland’s exports to Spain grew by 7 per cent from the year before, while imports from Spain to Finland grew by 12 per cent.

The countries are now looking at new opportunities for economic cooperation in the fields of digitalisation, the defence industry, the circular economy and decarbonisation.

While in Helsinki, Sánchez also met with President Alexander Stubb.