Finnish president warns of looming economic downturn in Europe

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö believes that the EU countries will face an economic downturn due to the conflict in Ukraine.

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“Citizens of Finland and other EU countries will have to get used to the fact that the economy will no longer grow from year to year. This can negatively affect the unity of Europe, as development suddenly stops and the number of challenges increases,” the politician said.

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According to him, in this regard, “the key tasks are the self-sufficiency of Finland in the field of security, despite the process of joining NATO, and its independence in the issue of providing the population with food.”

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Niinistö added that today it is important to take into account “the risk of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.” He did not specify how the situation could escalate, but stressed that “anxiety, of course, is shared in other countries.”

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“The state of relations between Russia and the West, in particular between Russia and Finland, will also depend on the development of the situation in Ukraine,” he said.