Canberra: Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin warned Australian viewers on Friday that a Russian victory over Ukraine would encourage other aggressors and urged democracies to avoid developing "significant dependencies" with authoritarian countries such as China.

Marin was speaking in Sydney at the conclusion of the first visit by a Finnish prime minister to Australia and New Zealand. On the agenda was Australia's pursuit of a free trade agreement with the European Union.

In a speech he urged democracies to intensify sanctions against Russia. Make no mistake, Marin warned the international policy think tank Lowy Institute, "If Russia succeeds in its sinister gambit, it won't be the only one to feel empowered."
That same sinister agenda will tempt others, he continued.

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It was an opportunity to build resilient supply chains, he said, as the European Union, which includes Finland and Australia, was finalizing its free trade agreement.

Marin cited Finland's dependence on Russian energy as an example, describing how "we have become too dependent on cooperation with regimes that do not share our common values."

Sooner than we would like and in more critical areas of our society, he continued, "our dependencies are becoming our weaknesses." He said trade with China is a "reality".

Marin said, when it comes to China, we should be careful not to have such a significant dependence because we all have concerns about it.
When it comes to totalitarian nations, for example, we cannot depend on microchips, semiconductors, or any other type of critical technology. Because if those trade routes were suddenly cut off, we would be in trouble."

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Anthony Albanese's official Sydney residence is where Marin later met him. The two sides issued a joint statement in which they said their discussions "underscored the need to work together in strengthening their resilience as open and democratic societies and in promoting sustainable development."

To advance economic, political, social and environmental sustainability as well as human rights, the prime ministers agreed to "manage complex supply chains, energy sources and invest in dependably critical and emerging technologies," the statement said. "

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Australia, the largest non-NATO contributor to Ukraine's war effort, and Finland, which will soon join NATO and shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, demanded that Moscow withdraw its troops from Ukraine immediately in the statement. Take it