FINLAND'S "NATO CANDIDATE" STRESSES TRANS-ATLANTIC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 001310

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR SENV PINR FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND'S "NATO CANDIDATE" STRESSES TRANS-ATLANTIC
TIES AND SHARED VALUES


1. (SBU) Summary: Swedish People's Party candidate and
MEP Henrick Lax briefed us on the presidential campaign
and the political challenges facing the US and Europe.
He expressed grave concern about developments in Russia
and argued that Finland must assume far greater
leadership in helping formulate a unified EU response.
As the only candidate to advocate Finnish NATO
membership, Lax emphasized how vital the trans-Atlantic
relationship is to European security. He welcomed NATO
expansion eastward, both for strategic reasons and as an
effective means of spreading democracy. As he has done
publicly, Lax argued that Europeans and Americans share
the same fundamental values and that current
disagreements are political, not value-based. However,
he cautioned, Guantanamo and discord over climate change
offer easy targets for those who allege that European
and US values have diverged. Lax will not win Finland's
presidency; nevertheless, he has contributed a balanced,
fact-based NATO message and his strongly trans-Atlantic
stance has influenced the overall campaign positively.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) Swedish People's Party (RKP) presidential
candidate and European Parliamentarian (MEP) Henrick Lax
took time out of the busy campaign calendar to brief
Charge on a range of political issues over lunch at the
Residence Dec. 21. Lax was accompanied by RKP MP Astrid
Thors; Charge by PolChief and A/PAO.

The EU Needs a Finnish-Led Response to Russia
--------------

3. (SBU) Lax expressed grave concern about deeply
entrenched problems in Russia and about the lack of a
unified EU response. Russia's strong economic progress
masks a dismal environmental record; backsliding on
democracy; an inability to address border issues and
other regional security problems; and serious social
ills symbolized by a male life expectancy of only 57
years. In response, he argued, the EU must formulate a
single, unified message and Brussels must lead a tough,
frank dialogue with Russian President Putin aimed at
resolving -- not just discussing -- these challenges.
However, Lax continued, the Union has failed to do so,
with France favoring one form of dialogue, the Nordics
another, and the newest EU member states still another.
Lax agreed wholeheartedly with Charge's suggestion that
Finland is uniquely placed to play a leadership role in
formulating a unified EU response. In fact, he
suggested that, unlike new EU members who still bear so
much animosity toward Moscow, only Finland (and,
perhaps, Germany) among EU member states has the
necessary historical experience and the geographic
imperative to do so. Unfortunately, Lax concluded,
neither President Tarja Halonen nor the GOF under PM
Matti Vanhanen has shown any inclination to lead such an
EU effort.

NATO as a Vehicle to Spread Shared Values
--------------

4. (SBU) Although he lamented the EU's slow, disjointed
response to Moscow, Lax was optimistic about NATO's
emerging role throughout Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet republics. Of the eight candidates competing in
Finland's presidential election, Lax is the only one to
urge publicly that Finland join NATO as soon as
possible. Now viewed domestically as "the NATO
candidate," his campaign statements have focused on
traditional arguments, such as the vital nature of a
robust US role in European defense and the clear
strategic logic of Finland's joining the alliance. But
Lax also highlighted the importance of NATO as a hopeful
tool for bolstering regional security and for
strengthening the emerging democracies along Russia's
borders. NATO's expansion eastward could, in turn, have
positive impacts on Russia itself, he said. Lax also
expressed great interest in our suggestion that while
the EU may be currently suffering from "expansion
fatigue," NATO may serve as useful role in continuing a
productive dialogue with countries that are actively
seeking membership in the "European club."


5. (SBU) In terms of pushing democratic and other
reforms "eastward," Lax noted that one of his main
domestic campaign messages has been identical to one
that the Embassy also frequently delivers: that is,
that Europeans and Americans share a deeply-entrenched
set of fundamental values regarding democratic
governance, market economies, respect for human rights,
and commitment to equal opportunity and basic personal
freedoms. Current differences over approaches to Iraq,
the war on terrorism and even the environment are
political, not value-based. Lax said that his pro-NATO
and oftentimes pro-US stance in the campaign leaves him
open to criticism, particularly at a time when Finnish
and European public opinion is deeply at odds with US
climate change policy and perceived US mistreatment of
terrorism suspects at Guantanamo and elsewhere. Deep
differences of opinion on these issues "do not make my
job easy," he said wryly, but added that he remains
convinced that Europe and the US fundamentally agree
that the spread of their shared values is crucial to
ensuring regional security in Europe and elsewhere.

Comment
--------------

6. (SBU) As the candidate representing Finland's tiny
(but influential) Swedish-speaking minority, Lax has
almost no chance of winning the January election.
Nonetheless, his campaign has been of interest to us,
chiefly because he has made a realistic, fact-based
contribution an ongoing NATO membership discussion
which, unfortunately, is often fraught with
misperceptions and exaggerations. Also, while none of
the eight presidential candidates has resorted to the
type of simplistic anti-American jingoism that has
characterized some European elections over the past few
years, we believe that Lax's pro-NATO, pro-business and
generally pro-American stance has influenced the public
debate positively.
HYATT