{"id":88631,"date":"2026-05-21T16:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/88631\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T16:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:01:10","slug":"finnish-president-calls-for-helsinki-style-security-framework-for-middle-east-that-adopts-eu-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/88631\/","title":{"rendered":"Finnish President calls for Helsinki-style security framework for Middle East that adopts EU model"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finnish President Alexander Stubb<\/a> has suggested that the Middle East<\/a> may need a Helsinki-style security framework bringing together rivals, including Iran<\/a> and Israel, before it evolves into a co-operation system similar to the EU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I think it would be very useful if, when the conflict is over, ‘X’ amount of countries would come together and emulate what we did in Helsinki in 1975 with the Helsinki Security Conference, where we defined three baskets that basically enemies started to work on, East and West,\u201d he said in a media briefing in the Finnish capital<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

“And then perhaps spin it off from there to some kind of institutional integration system, \u00e0 la European Union<\/a>,\u201d he went on.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinnish humbleness prevents me from giving advice. We can only give suggestions for frameworks, and then the substance comes from it. So, in a big security conference, it is quite clear that it would be quite difficult to be without Iran and Israel<\/a>,\u201d Mr Stubb said in response to questions by The National during the media briefing in Helsinki with other international outlets.<\/p>\n

He was drawing parallels with the accords signed in the Finnish capital by western and Soviet bloc countries, which created a framework for dialogue and confidence-building measures between Cold War<\/a> rivals.<\/p>\n

The three baskets from 50 years ago Mr Stubb referred to were security, economic co-operation and humanitarian and cultural co-operation.<\/p>\n

Today, the Iran war<\/a> has major global economic implications through the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, particularly amid fears that fighting<\/a> between the US, Israel and Iran could resume at any moment.<\/p>\n

Iranian attacks targeting civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries<\/a> have also intensified the crisis, with the UAE<\/a>, the most heavily targeted state, now insisting that any agreement with Tehran must address its ballistic missile programme and support for proxy militias.<\/p>\n

According to Arab sources, mediators<\/a> are working to narrow differences between Iran and the US before the possible resumption of direct talks next week, although fears of renewed war continue to overshadow discussions. <\/p>\n

Closer GCC-EU relations <\/p>\n

Mr Stubb said the conflict brought Europe and the Gulf countries closer and proved “useful\u201d for Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I was one of the first ones to immediately call my friends in the region,\u201d he told The National in the interview. He called for working on a “deeper institutional structure\u201d between the GCC countries<\/a> and Europe. “It could be about a free-trade agreement, it could be about visa freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war in Iran has turned out to be useful for Ukraine because they\u2019ve been able to help GCC countries with drones and missile defences<\/a>. They sent 10 teams of 40 military experts to the region, so they\u2019re doing quite well,\u201d Mr Stubb said, while saying he believes that Ukraine is winning the war<\/a> against Russia.<\/p>\n

His remarks come as Finland increasingly seeks to position itself as a centre for mediation and conflict resolution, a strategy visible across its foreign policy institutions, peace foundations and education system. <\/p>\n

Mr Stubb framed Finland\u2019s small-state identity as an advantage in international diplomacy, particularly when proposing reforms to global governance structures, including expanding permanent membership of the UN Security Council<\/a> and abolishing veto powers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe come with almost no baggage to the UN,\u201d Mr Stubb said of Finland\u2019s candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2029-2030, ahead of the country formally launching its campaign in June. <\/p>\n

Double standard <\/p>\n

Despite positioning Finland as a rules-based advocate for reforming global institutions, Mr Stubb also acknowledged that the Gaza war<\/a> had exposed inconsistencies in how Europe and the West apply foreign policy principles.<\/p>\n

“Is there a discrepancy and double standard between what we say and do in Russia versus what we say and do with Israel<\/a>? The answer is unequivocal yes,\u201d he admitted. “Foreign policy is never black and white. There’s not one country in this world that drives a foreign policy which is consistent,\u201d said Mr Stubb.<\/p>\n

“Has Israel gone too far in Gaza? Yes. Has it gone too far in the West Bank<\/a>? Yes. Has it gone too far in Lebanon<\/a>? Yes. In foreign policy, quite often, I make a difference between what you do and what you say. There are some conflicts where we can ‘do’, like the one in Ukraine, and then there are some where we can only ‘say’. So, the world is not, unfortunately, perfect. Nor is Finnish foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suggested, however, that recognising a Palestinian state<\/a> was only a matter of time and Finland joins other European and western capitals that have already taken the step.<\/p>\n

“For me, it will be a question of not if, but when. And I’m sure the government will, at some stage, either this government or the next government, give me a proposal for the recognition<\/a> of a Palestinian state, and I will approve it immediately,\u201d said Mr Stubb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Finnish President Alexander Stubb has suggested that the Middle East may need a Helsinki-style security framework bringing together…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[158,33198,113,2271,3126,8313,8312],"class_list":["post-88631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-finland","tag-foreign-desk-team","tag-helsinki","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-standard","tag-story"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116613407417293009","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}