Stubb on Afghanistan: “We are all on the same football team”

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Finland currently has about 200 peacekeeping troops in the north of Afghanistan, supporting the Afghan army and police. Some of the forces were sent there quite recently to help with arrangements for last month’s Presidential and local elections. Now there are reports of irregularities in the vote itself.
      Helsingin Sanomat spoke with Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) on current Finnish policy in Afghanistan
     
Is Finland, along with other like-minded countries, supporting a farce organised by Afghanistan’s thoroughly corrupt administration?
      “A straight answer would be no. We discussed the matter in Stockholm during the weekend at an unofficial EU foreign ministers’ meeting. The starting point was that all election fraud is to be condemned, and at the same time we are calling for closer analysis and research on where fraud might have occurred.
     
Finland sent reinforcements to Northern Afghanistan in July for the elections. They were to be there for four months. Will they stay there for a longer time?
      “After that we will return to the normal level of just over 100 people, which we had just before the elections. No new decisions are expected at this phase at least.”
     
In the spring, the Foreign Ministry said that Finland would be in Afghanistan for about 20 years. Will that be the case?
      “Nobody has a crystal ball. Nobody wants to be in Afghanistan that long.”
     
The strategy of the United States seems confused: sometimes it is a fight against terrorists, at times, they are supporting democracy and protecting the population. Has the West dropped the ball in Afghanistan?
      “I wouldn’t say that the ball has been dropped. The starting point is quite clear - the stabilisation of the country, and promoting human rights and fundamental rights. All the time military crisis management is to be dealt with, while at the same time building the society with the help of civilian crisis management. The strategy is quite clear.”
     
But wasn’t, and isn’t the basic reason for Finnish participation that we need to be the friend of the United States in something?
      “It was not the basic reason. Originally, the reason for going into Afghanistan was the 9/11 terror attacks. We also have two selfish reasons. The first involves terrorism and the fight against it, and the second involves drugs. So the stability of Afghanistan also partly involves European stability as well.”
      “Certainly it is easy to be there with the United States because we are, the EU and the United States, a part of the same football team in one way or another.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish political leaders prepare for trouble in Afghanistan (31.8.2009)
  Finns under fire in north of Afghanistan (19.8.2009)
  Defence Minister Häkämies addresses concerns of family members of Afghan peacekeepers (17.8.2009)
  Hägglund: Finland is party to armed conflict in Afghanistan (10.8.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat