Finland's former prime minister Sanna Marin: 'Europe cannot stand by and watch. We must act'

Sanna Marin served as Finland's prime minister during three and a half turbulent years, from the pandemic through the energy crisis and the Ukraine war, culminating in NATO membership.

These days she is actively involved with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) and is writing a book set to be published in autumn 2025.

But she made an appearance at Sweden's biggest tech and business event Techarena held last week, with a keynote which generated a lot of attention.

"You are the heroes of tomorrow's Europe. We need your solutions, companies, ideas and innovations," she said, praising the audience as she began her speech.

Europe is stronger than we think

A significant portion of the conversation revolved around geopolitical tensions in general and Ukraine in particular.

Sanna Marin previously opposed Finland's NATO membership but changed her stance following Russia's invasion. She argued that Finland's decision, living with Russia as its immediate neighbour, was more practically grounded than Sweden's.

"Russia attacked a peaceful neighbouring country, and if we don't end this war, there are no guarantees that Putin won't continue with other countries. It was the right decision for Sweden and Finland to join NATO simultaneously," she said.

She believes Europe needs to wake up to today's realities.

"We can no longer remain passive and rely on global agreements to protect small countries: we must take significant steps forward. Europe cannot stand by and watch. We must act. The best way to maintain peace is to prepare for war."

At the same time, Marin emphasises that Europe is stronger than many believe.

"We have the industry, the talent and the economy. Now we need to abandon the notion that Europe is weak and instead invest heavily in our defence capabilities. Peace in Ukraine can never be achieved without European involvement."

"We need to prepare for the future"

Technical innovations will play an increasingly crucial role for Europe, according to her analysis.

"Tech will become the biggest issue in the future. And the more digital our societies become, the more we need to secure our resilience and autonomy. We need to prepare for the future and not repeat past mistakes."

Marin strongly advocates for closer strategic partnerships between public and private sectors.

"The Nordic region has abundant talent and fantastic startups. Governments need to ensure substantial resources are allocated to education, research, innovation and collaborative frameworks. Nordic and European companies must be able to grow and become truly large to participate in the global discussion. This requires smarter tech regulations as well."

Could we see a new era of "glasnost" in Russia?

"It's possible," Marin suggests.

"If Putin loses in Ukraine. Historically, there's momentum for revolution in Russia following such a defeat. While many point out that the outcome could be worse than Putin, one must ask: what could be worse than Putin?"

Note: This article is a translation from our Swedish-language sister site, Impact Loop.