{"id":51241,"date":"2026-04-15T08:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=51241"},"modified":"2026-04-15T08:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:12:19","slug":"finlands-president-on-why-he-believes-canada-could-eventually-be-part-of-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=51241","title":{"rendered":"Finland&#8217;s president on why he believes Canada could \u2014 eventually \u2014 be part of the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ttsIcon-cIBsl\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"toggletip-tKLKF ttsToggleTip-DSCNQ\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"toggletipInfoButton-yoX4E\" aria-label=\"More information\" aria-controls=\":R89qn5:\" aria-describedby=\":R89qn5:\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" focusable=\"false\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M11 7H13V9H11V7ZM11 11H13V17H11V11ZM12 2C6.48 2 2 6.48 2 12C2 17.52 6.48 22 12 22C17.52 22 22 17.52 22 12C22 6.48 17.52 2 12 2ZM12 20C7.59 20 4 16.41 4 12C4 7.59 7.59 4 12 4C16.41 4 20 7.59 20 12C20 16.41 16.41 20 12 20Z\" fill=\"black\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Finnish President Alexander Stubb says he exchanges messages with Prime Minister Mark Carney almost every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re tight,&#8221; Stubb said with a smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, Stubb and Carney have the opportunity to talk in person.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stubb is in Ottawa for his first official bilateral meetings with Canada&#8217;s prime minister. The pair are working to develop trade and defence ties, according to Carney&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;With shared interests, values and a commitment to international security, I look forward to hosting President Stubb to deepen our partnership to create stability, security and prosperity for both our peoples,&#8221; Carney wrote in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One of the ways Stubb said he maintains that partnership is through regular communication.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said that being the leader of a &#8220;small country&#8221; means that &#8220;information is power.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"imageMedia image full\">\n<div class=\"placeholder\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/5db76ff8-3e36-4e1f-9951-071ad07a899d,1776209585297\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C6902%2C4907%29%3BResize%3D796\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Two men in suits shake hands.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/5db76ff8-3e36-4e1f-9951-071ad07a899d,1776209585297\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C6902%2C4907%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/5db76ff8-3e36-4e1f-9951-071ad07a899d,1776209585297\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C6902%2C4907%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/5db76ff8-3e36-4e1f-9951-071ad07a899d,1776209585297\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C6902%2C4907%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/5db76ff8-3e36-4e1f-9951-071ad07a899d,1776209585297\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C6902%2C4907%29%3B\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.406562054208274\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">Carney greeted Stubb as he arrived on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.<!-- --> <!-- -->(Adrian Wyld\/The Canadian Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;If I have a piece of information, I&#8217;ll send it to Mark. If Mark has a piece of information, he might inform me,&#8221; Stubb said in an interview with CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Stubb said their bond goes beyond a personal rapport.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think Fins and Canadians are quite similar,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re cool, calm and collected except in the ice hockey rink. And then when the going gets tough, we go to the sauna and take an ice bath and calm down.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s part of the reason why Stubb believes Canada could eventually be a part of the European Union.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think Canada in terms of its whole composure, its value base, is so close to the European Union that the least we can do is to forge a really close strategic partnership,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I can envisage a much larger EU, whether Canada is a part of it or not is up to Canada to decide.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While joining the EU may not be in Canada&#8217;s immediate future, Carney has been developing trade ties with countries including India, China and the five Nordic countries as part of an effort to diversify from the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carney has called the Trump administration&#8217;s weaponization of trade through the use of tariffs a &#8220;rupture&#8221; to the global order.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While Stubb doesn&#8217;t use the same &#8220;tough language&#8221; as Carney, he does believe a transformation is taking place.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think foreign policy and diplomacy is never completely binary. It&#8217;s not black and white, unless we go into war,&#8221; he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We agree on the fact that the world order is changing.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<div><em><strong>WATCH | Carney and Stubb attend Ottawa Charge practice:<\/strong><\/em><span><span class=\"mediaEmbed vertical-placeholder\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-ui-container  \" data-cy=\"player-placeholder-ui-container\">\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-video-ui\" title=\"Carney, Finnish president attend Ottawa Charge practice\" style=\"--aspect-ratio:0.5625;--max-height:800px\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-ui\">\n<div class=\"video-item video-card-overlay\" title=\"Carney, Finnish president attend Ottawa Charge practice\">\n<div class=\"thumbnail-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/9be835ae-3901-45c8-8d2c-aeea2a1b4d40,1776197420894\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%281144%2C0%2C2802%2C4981%29%3BResize%3D343\" srcset=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"thumbnail\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"video-card-overlay-container\">\n<div class=\"video-info-container\">\n<p class=\"video-item-title\">Carney, Finnish president attend Ottawa Charge practice<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"media-caption\">Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finnish President Alexander Stubb took to the ice at TD Place Tuesday. The two leaders ran some drills with the Charge before posing for a photo with the team.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p>While that change may be coming, for now, Finland and Canada must maintain their relationship with the U.S., particularly regarding security, Stubb said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Canada, Finland and the U.S. are all part of a trilateral agreement: the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, which is meant to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/icebreaker-pact-canada-finland-united-states-9.7061953\" target=\"_blank\">help produce icebreaker ships to strengthen Arctic security<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That introduces another world leader into the fray, one that Stubb says he also maintains a texting relationship with: U.S. President Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stubb says that when it comes to his role in maintaining trilateral relations between Finland, Canada and the United States, he has to be &#8220;very pragmatic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So understand that we disagree on some things like climate or international institutions, but understand that it&#8217;s in our mutual interest that we co-operate on things like defence,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At the end of the day, I&#8217;m an optimist. If you don&#8217;t know how things are going to end up, assume that they will end up all good.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The full interview with Alexander Stubb will air on <\/strong><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/gem.cbc.ca\/rosemary-barton-live\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em><strong>CBC&#8217;s Rosemary Barton Live<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a><em><strong> on April 19.<\/strong><\/em><strong>  <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/alexander-stubb-finland-carney-meeting-9.7164014?cmp=rss\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}