All onboard to face Russia’s Western Flank – Finland’s natural leadership role in NATO

Sitting on NATO’s longest border with Russia, on 7 February GLOBSEC with the support of the Atlantic Council of Finland organized a senior-level discussion to assess Finland’s immediate impact on the Alliance. The dinner delved into a range of timely subjects including Finland's accession to NATO's deterrence strategies, enhancing military readiness, and extracting lessons from the current geopolitical tensions.

Gen (Ret.) Sir Richard Shirreff, former NATO DSACEUR and distinguished member of the Future and Security Council (FSDC) at GLOBSEC opened the discussion with John Barter, Senior Vice President, GLOBSEC curating the session that tacked the complexities of regional Nordic security, the interconnectedness of NATO’s Eastern and Western flank, as well as reiterated the high value of Finland’s emerging leadership role. Lt. Gen Arto Raty, former Chief of Staff of the Finnish Ministry of Defence, Senior Advisor at Milton wrapped up the discussion with closing remarks, reminding participants that collective Allied strategies are essential to navigate the host of challenges facing NATO.

Explore the key insights and policy takeaways from the event below.