On Tuesday, the opposition Finns Party published its new foreign and security policy programme.

According to it, the major threats to Western security are the antidemocratic regimes in China and Russia, as well as large-scale immigration from African and Islamic nations.

The Finns Party is currently the largest opposition party in parliament with 38 seats, but the National Coalition Party has been leading in the polls this past year. The next parliamentary elections will take place in April 2023.

The programme stated that Finland cannot return to its former bilateral relations with Russia. When trade with Finland's eastern neighbour occasionally continues, the security benefits must be carefully weighed, the party wrote.

Finland must also support efforts to create a Western front against China's ambitions to become the sole global superpower, according to the Finns Party.

The party also stressed the importance of keeping an eye on Chinese and Russian objectives in the Arctic, and therefore approach real estate deals in Northern Finland with particular caution.

It assessed that Nato membership gives Finland, above all else, military security guarantees, but also the opportunity to pursue foreign policy that is more independent from the EU.

The party also stressed further and increased cooperation with the United States as a means to combat Russian and Chinese aggression.

The party stood firmly against large-scale immigration, saying that it causes economic and social problems, and called on curtailing these developments.

Align with neighbours

The Finns Party stated in its security policy platform that Finland should embrace a "more realistic EU policy," similar to Denmark and Sweden.

The party argued that Finland suffers from "EU debt packages" and climate policy, but claimed that Denmark and Sweden have always weighed EU policy with the countries' national interest. Denmark and Sweden have not joined the eurozone, for example.

Additionally, in terms of common EU security policy, Finland should position itself closer to the Baltic states, whose attitude towards Russia, according to the Finns Party, has been more realistic than Finland's in the post-Cold War era.

The Baltic countries of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia - formerly part of the Soviet Union - have distinguished themselves from the rest of Europe with their firm stances against Russia.

End to dual citizenship?

In the opinion of the Finns Party, dual citizenship should be abolished due to recent developments with Russia.

"In Finland the right to dual citizenship must be cancelled because it does not serve its purpose in the changed security environment," the party's programme emphasised.

The document went on to argue that foreigners should be obliged to give up their citizenship of birth when applying for Finnish citizenship.

The Finns Party programme went on to say that individuals with dual citizenship must be barred from obtaining positions vital to national security in the Finnish Defence Forces or state administration.

As a final concession, the Finns Party went on to admit that cancelling dual citizenship could prove to be too difficult politically, and that a compromise would be to only grant dual citizenship to those whose other citizenship is from an OECD member state.