The European union is a union of shared values. These values cannot be compromised or brushed aside,
because they represent the very foundation upon which our union is built. The EU’s founding values are
human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the
rights of persons belonging to minorities.
In recent years, some of the shared values have been questioned. In particular, the developments in
Hungary and Poland have been worrisome, even though similar developments can be observed in a
number of countries. In Hungary, the judicial independence has been restricted, media freedom
undermined, and civil society is increasingly under pressure. In Poland the situation is just as bad. Women’s
rights and LGBT rights have been under regular attack and both freedom of expression and assembly have
been limited. As a Member of Parliament from Finland, I find these developments shocking.
The EU finally came to an agreement on the rule of law mechanism. These means that Member States must
comply with the rule of law otherwise their EU funds can be cut. This is an important element. Our
taxpayers in Finland and in the EU should not fund illegal and undemocratic states. I cannot underline it
enough: the rule of law cannot be bypassed in the EU.
The current commission under President van der Leyen has taken on a more geopolitical role. The aim is
that EU can be a more relevant actor in the international scheme of things. However, we need to clean up
our own backyard first. The rule of law mechanism is a way of doing this.
The Copenhagen Criteria define the conditions that need to be met by countries aspiring to join the EU. The
first condition is that the country must respect the rule of law. If a country must respect rule of law to join
the EU, surely it is reasonable that current EU members should abide to the rule of law?
The rule of law mechanism has been created to be applied to all EU Member States. Hungary and Poland
have claimed that the mechanism has been invented them for their anti-migration policies, but this is false
information. Every single EU country must adhere to these founding values. In recent days in Finland there
has been a debate about of the Finnish Foreign Minister Haavisto and the role of the Finnish Parliament’s
Constitutional Affairs Committee. The Greens Party has reverted to objectionable and very inappropriate
means in their attempts to whitewash Haavisto’s name.
To make it absolutely clear: The Constitutional Committee declared that Foreign Minister Haavisto had
broken the law when he demanded that civil servant Tuominen be re-assigned due to a disagreement
relating to the repatriation of Finnish children and women in Al-Hol. However, Haavisto’s violations of his
duties did not meet the threshold for prosecuting a minister (which is higher than for regular citizens). The
Greens’ attempt to divert attention and cover up for the fact that Haavisto indeed broke the law as well as
their attempts to influence the Constitutional Affairs Committee truly undermines the rule of law in
Finland. I am surprised and dismayed by these attempts. It is of utmost importance that a country that
advocates for the rule of law also respects all of its dimensions. This is the very foundation upon which our
democracy rests.
Ville Kaunisto
Member of parliament, National coalition party
