4 | SAM MAGAZINE 3/25 Finns were placed in an unusual position. Helsinki was not just a peripheral observer of far-away talks, but rather an active participant through President Alexander Stubb’s new-found role as Europe’s chief Trump whisperer. For once, Helsinki would not be calling Paris, Berlin or London for morsels of information. This time Washington was calling Kultaranta. From host to player: Finland’s rise in Trump-Era diplomacy President Stubb’s close connection with Donald Trump has, for now, elevated Finland to the NHL of international diplomacy. Stakes could not be higher. Finland’s traditional role as a passive host to superpower meetings between the east and the west has transformed into active participation at the table. If previously Finland sought to be a bridgebuilder between Washington and Moscow, now the eastern end of the bridge has shifted to Kiev. Historians will likely someday reveal how Stubb won Trump over, but a few things stand out already. First, Trump likes Finland. He admires Finnish forestry, ice breakers and our defence model. To Trump Finland is not a free rider. Finnish diplomats also kept in touch with Trump and his team between Trump’s presidential terms. Second, the connection between Stubb and Trump didn’t happen by chance but was facilitated by another friend of Finland, senator Lindsey Graham. He was the one who suggested to Trump to play a round of golf with Stubb. Incidentally, Graham’s home state of South Carolina is the home of Furman University where Stubb studied in his youth. Finally, Trump and Stubb are two very different personalities and types of politicians, but they found two connecting features: their love of golf and penchant for direct and approachable communication style. Stubb has found his stride as a conduit between Europe and Trump. He has been able to relay and magnify messages from both sides, in a way acting, as the Key & Peele comedy sketch goes, as Europe’s ‘anger translator’. In other words, articulating Europe’s concerns and positions to Trump in a way that does not provoke him. Stubb has also skillfully leaned on Finland’s traditional role as a country that ‘knows Russia’. One of his key messages has consistently been that Putin cannot be trusted. However, as Stubb himself has noted, it’s important to remember that as a small country Finland can lose its role at any moment. Key European leaders have their own close relationships with Trump and Zelenskyy. Finland is not irreplaceable. In the months and weeks prior to the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, Europeans had worked hard to transform the overall vibe in the transatlantic relationship. First, the USUkraine mineral deal allowed Trump to argue that America now had a financial stake in the outcome of the war. Second, NATO’s Hague Summit pledged Europeans to spend 3,5 % of GDP on their defence and additional 1,5 % of GDP on infrastructure and softer elements of security. Trump could no claim victory and declare that Europeans would finally take their own security serious. Third, the US-EU trade deal eased pressure on the economic front and diverted a prolonged trade war between the two major trade partners. The week before Alaska followed a pattern seen many times before between Ukraine, Europe and Trump. AJANKOHTAISTA For Europeans, August is usually filled with trips to the beach or picnics at the local park. This time, August has instead brought geopolitical tensions as high-stakes diplomacy over the future of European security played out first in Alaska and then in Washington. ■ JOEL LINNAINMÄKI Finland’s diplomatic NHL moment
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