Sanna Marin: The Baltics should have been heeded over Russia
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Tuesday that Finland should have listened more to the Baltics when it came to Russia, adding that Finland's NATO accession is bound to lead to closer relations.
"I want to openly admit that we could have listened more to our friends in the Baltics when talking about Russia in recent decades," Marin told Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
Marin said that Finland is ready to ramp up sanctions against Russia.
Joining NATO used to be a politically sensitive topic in Finland.
Former Finnish President Tarja Halonen in March compared the NATO accession of the Baltic states to how they used to be in the Soviet Union.
"They were accustomed to being part to a collective security system during Soviet times," Halonen told Yle in an interview, commenting on the Baltics joining NATO back in 2004.
The former president later apologized for the unfortunate way she expressed herself.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
Source: Yle
