Canada-Europe Relations

Stubb and Carney on the ice: “We’ll start by working on my backhand”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb is on a state visit to Canada where he is meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney. One of the first meetings took place on the ice when the two leaders attended the Ottawa Chargers hockey team’s practice.

– It’s really fun to be here. Mark and I send each other messages almost every day. Sometimes it’s about hockey, sometimes about the Blue Jays, but most often about NATO, Ukraine or Iran, says Alexander Stubb.

– We’ll start by working on my backhand, and then we’ll solve the world’s problems, replies Mark Carney.

Stubb can imagine a future EU with Canada

A future EU with Canada as a member? Finnish President Alexander Stubb can see that.

– Canada, seen as a whole and its values, is very close to the European Union. The least we can do is create a really close strategic partnership, he says in an interview with Canada's CBC.

- I can imagine a much larger EU, whether Canada becomes part of it or not is up to Canada to decide, he continues.

Since Donald Trump took office for his second term, Canada has tried to diversify and develop its trade relations with countries such as India, China and the Nordic countries.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has been critical of Trump, saying that his use of trade as a political tool through tariffs has meant a rupture in the global order.