President-elect Bongbong Marcos. Screengrab from Facebook / BBM
MANILA, Philippines — The ambassador of Finland on Wednesday urged President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to uphold the Philippines’ condemnation of Russia in light of its continuing invasion of Ukraine.
Finnish Ambassador to the Philippines Juha Markus Pyykko, at a press conference following a courtesy call on Marcos, said that the Philippines, through the government of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, has signed a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly joining 140 other countries in expressing “explicit condemnation” of Russia in what it called a mere “special operations” to “denazify” its much smaller neighbor.
“The Philippines has been in the group of countries condemning the aggression and what I convey to the President-elect is that I hope his administration will continue to appreciate and respect this approach from the Philippine side in the future as well,” Pyykko said in a press briefing following his courtesy call on Marcos Jr.
Finland, which shares border with Russia, announced last month its intention to join NATO, fearing a similar fate as what had happened to Ukraine. The Finnish lost about 10% of their territory after an attempted invasion by the Soviet Union in World War Two.
READ: Finns living near border watch Russia warily, recall dark past
Pyykko said what Finland and the Philippine governments can do together is uphold international law and international rules-based order.
“As a European Union member state, we want to work with upholding international law and rule-based order. At this juncture, I raised the Russian aggression against Ukraine because that is a severe breach of international law and the international rules-based order,” Pyykko said.
“Traditionally, the Philippines has been a very active and solid member of the United Nations so we have to work in order to preserve the multilateral international rules-based system and that’s very important,” he added.
Initially in March, Marcos said that while he is worried for Filipinos in Ukraine, he believes there is no need for the Philippines to take a stand regarding the European country’s conflict with Russia.
READ: Marcos on Ukraine-Russia conflict: ‘No need to make a stand’
Marcos, however, changed his stand a few days later, saying the freedom of Ukraine must be respected.
Last week, incoming National Security Adviser (NSA) Clarita Carlos said the Marcos administration plans to take a “neutral” stance in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.