The issue of leaving the EU divides the Basic Finns – 2024-05-12 16:03:13

According to Ari Koponen (right), one of the European election candidates of Basic Finns, Finland’s long-term goal should be to leave the EU. Sebastian Tynkkynen and Sara Seppänen chose a neutral answer, but they are of the opinion that, if the situation demands, leaving the EU should also be considered.

More than 26 percent of the European election candidates of basic Finns are of the opinion that Finland’s long-term goal should be to leave the EU.

This can be seen from the candidates’ answers in Iltakone’s EU election machine.

Basic Finns stands out from other parliamentary parties, where there is no support for leaving the EU in the long term.

A good 26 percent of the candidates of Basic Finns disagree with the goal of leaving the EU, and 47 percent were neutral about leaving the EU. Among the Christian Democrats, 20 percent had a neutral, 80 percent had a negative attitude to leaving the EU. In other parliamentary parties, 100 percent disagreed with the claim that Finland should leave the EU in the long term.

In Iltalehti’s European election machine, the options for the question “Finland’s long-term goal should be to leave the EU” are completely agree, agree, neutral, disagree and completely disagree.

The difference is mentioned in the EU program

The basic Finns’ European election program states that there is no reason to treat leaving the European Union as a taboo, because it is not known in which direction the EU will develop in the coming decades.

According to the program, the Finnish state must have an action plan for exceptional situations, if, for example, an external crisis or shock breaks up the Union. However, according to the basic Finns’ European election program, it is not realistic for Finland to unilaterally leave the EU in the near future.

According to PS, a potential separation from the EU would probably happen at the same time as the other Nordic countries, in which case Nordic cooperation would also become closer.

PS has softened its position. In the 2019 election program, the party saw that Finland’s long-term strategic goal should be to leave the EU.

Juvonen looks at the Nordic countries

Nine of the MPs of the Basic Finns are candidates for the European elections. Also a current MEP Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner is a candidate for. Ruohonen-Lerner does not support the fact that Finland’s goal is to leave the EU. He does not justify his position in the election machine.

PS’s parliamentary candidates support leaving the EU as a long-term goal Kaisa Garedew and Ari Koponen. Of the PS MPs only Arja Juvonen completely disagrees that Finland should leave the EU. Other MPs who are EU election candidates are neutral.

– European unity in security matters is important. Now the situation needs to be stabilized, and talk of separation also belongs in the background. If the Nordic countries started to discuss leaving the EU, common overall assessments would be in place. Now it’s good this way, Juvonen reasons.

“It is likely that the EU will break up”

According to Koponen, who supports leaving the EU, it would be important to get the EU to its roots. Nowadays, in his opinion, the EU intervenes in matters that should not belong to the EU at all.

– The direction must therefore be reversed, if this does not happen, conclusions must be made then, Koponen reasoned.

According to Garedew, it is likely that the EU will break up in the next few years due to internal disputes and federal development, which the nations do not want. That is why, according to him, Finland must be prepared for leaving the EU.

– Unfortunately, leaving the EU is a long and difficult process, because we are also in the euro. There are a lot of commitments, Gaderew said.

Preparing for different scenarios

The candidate MPs have a neutral attitude towards leaving the EU Sanna Antikainen, Vilhelm Junnila, Mauri Peltokangas, Mikko Polvinen, Sara Seppänen, Sebastian Tynkkynen.

Antikainen and Polvinen do not justify their answer in the election machine.

In Junnila’s opinion, there is no demand or need for separation in the current geopolitical situation. According to Peltokanka, the matter must be taken into account if the federal development of the EU continues.

According to Tynkkynen, the war of aggression against Ukraine started by Russia has caused the EU to also focus on real big issues such as security, which is beneficial to Finland.

– A country that does not prepare for different scenarios is not wise. Finland should prepare a plan in the event that the EU breaks up or that Finland’s national interest requires that it be necessary to jump off the EU federal train, Tynkkynen answered.

According to him, the future solutions of Finland, like other countries, depend on whether the EU leaders are ready to take reason into their hands and give up their utopia of disappearing nation states and replacing them with a compact federal state.

“Sweden acted wisely”

Sara Seppänen, who has a neutral attitude towards leaving the EU, thinks that the EU should develop in a more reasonable direction. According to him, a moral backbone must be found and the sovereignty of nation states and national legislation must be respected. When this backbone and morality is found, according to Seppänen, there is no need to leave the EU.

– If the EU continues to despise the legislation of the member countries, forces the members into a federal state and a common debt, then leaving the EU may be the only way to save Finland’s independence, Seppänen answered.

According to him, an inflexible common currency causes considerable problems for the economies of several European countries. It is difficult to restore competitiveness in the member countries, because they cannot control the currency.

– Sweden acted wisely when it did not join the euro, Seppänen said.

Iltalehti’s election machine has so far the answers of 214 candidates.