This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 001310 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR SENV PINR FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND'S "NATO CANDIDATE" STRESSES TRANS-ATLANTIC 
TIES AND SHARED VALUES 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Swedish People's Party candidate and 
MEP Henrick Lax briefed us on the presidential campaign 
and the political challenges facing the US and Europe. 
He expressed grave concern about developments in Russia 
and argued that Finland must assume far greater 
leadership in helping formulate a unified EU response. 
As the only candidate to advocate Finnish NATO 
membership, Lax emphasized how vital the trans-Atlantic 
relationship is to European security.  He welcomed NATO 
expansion eastward, both for strategic reasons and as an 
effective means of spreading democracy.  As he has done 
publicly, Lax argued that Europeans and Americans share 
the same fundamental values and that current 
disagreements are political, not value-based.  However, 
he cautioned, Guantanamo and discord over climate change 
offer easy targets for those who allege that European 
and US values have diverged.  Lax will not win Finland's 
presidency; nevertheless, he has contributed a balanced, 
fact-based NATO message and his strongly trans-Atlantic 
stance has influenced the overall campaign positively. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Swedish People's Party (RKP) presidential 
candidate and European Parliamentarian (MEP) Henrick Lax 
took time out of the busy campaign calendar to brief 
Charge on a range of political issues over lunch at the 
Residence Dec. 21.  Lax was accompanied by RKP MP Astrid 
Thors; Charge by PolChief and A/PAO. 
 
The EU Needs a Finnish-Led Response to Russia 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) Lax expressed grave concern about deeply 
entrenched problems in Russia and about the lack of a 
unified EU response.  Russia's strong economic progress 
masks a dismal environmental record; backsliding on 
democracy; an inability to address border issues and 
other regional security problems; and serious social 
ills symbolized by a male life expectancy of only 57 
years.  In response, he argued, the EU must formulate a 
single, unified message and Brussels must lead a tough, 
frank dialogue with Russian President Putin aimed at 
resolving -- not just discussing -- these challenges. 
However, Lax continued, the Union has failed to do so, 
with France favoring one form of dialogue, the Nordics 
another, and the newest EU member states still another. 
Lax agreed wholeheartedly with Charge's suggestion that 
Finland is uniquely placed to play a leadership role in 
formulating a unified EU response.  In fact, he 
suggested that, unlike new EU members who still bear so 
much animosity toward Moscow, only Finland (and, 
perhaps, Germany) among EU member states has the 
necessary historical experience and the geographic 
imperative to do so.  Unfortunately, Lax concluded, 
neither President Tarja Halonen nor the GOF under PM 
Matti Vanhanen has shown any inclination to lead such an 
EU effort. 
 
NATO as a Vehicle to Spread Shared Values 
----------------------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) Although he lamented the EU's slow, disjointed 
response to Moscow, Lax was optimistic about NATO's 
emerging role throughout Eastern Europe and the former 
Soviet republics.  Of the eight candidates competing in 
Finland's presidential election, Lax is the only one to 
urge publicly that Finland join NATO as soon as 
possible.  Now viewed domestically as "the NATO 
candidate," his campaign statements have focused on 
traditional arguments, such as the vital nature of a 
robust US role in European defense and the clear 
strategic logic of Finland's joining the alliance.  But 
Lax also highlighted the importance of NATO as a hopeful 
tool for bolstering regional security and for 
strengthening the emerging democracies along Russia's 
borders.  NATO's expansion eastward could, in turn, have 
positive impacts on Russia itself, he said.  Lax also 
expressed great interest in our suggestion that while 
the EU may be currently suffering from "expansion 
fatigue," NATO may serve as useful role in continuing a 
productive dialogue with countries that are actively 
seeking membership in the "European club." 
 
¶5. (SBU) In terms of pushing democratic and other 
reforms "eastward," Lax noted that one of his main 
domestic campaign messages has been identical to one 
that the Embassy also frequently delivers:  that is, 
that Europeans and Americans share a deeply-entrenched 
set of fundamental values regarding democratic 
governance, market economies, respect for human rights, 
and commitment to equal opportunity and basic personal 
freedoms.  Current differences over approaches to Iraq, 
the war on terrorism and even the environment are 
political, not value-based.  Lax said that his pro-NATO 
and oftentimes pro-US stance in the campaign leaves him 
open to criticism, particularly at a time when Finnish 
and European public opinion is deeply at odds with US 
climate change policy and perceived US mistreatment of 
terrorism suspects at Guantanamo and elsewhere.  Deep 
differences of opinion on these issues "do not make my 
job easy," he said wryly, but added that he remains 
convinced that Europe and the US fundamentally agree 
that the spread of their shared values is crucial to 
ensuring regional security in Europe and elsewhere. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶6. (SBU) As the candidate representing Finland's tiny 
(but influential) Swedish-speaking minority, Lax has 
almost no chance of winning the January election. 
Nonetheless, his campaign has been of interest to us, 
chiefly because he has made a realistic, fact-based 
contribution an ongoing NATO membership discussion 
which, unfortunately, is often fraught with 
misperceptions and exaggerations.  Also, while none of 
the eight presidential candidates has resorted to the 
type of simplistic anti-American jingoism that has 
characterized some European elections over the past few 
years, we believe that Lax's pro-NATO, pro-business and 
generally pro-American stance has influenced the public 
debate positively. 
HYATT