Finnish President Alexander Stubb Calls for EU Expansion to 40 Nations

Finnish President Alexander Stubb told an energy conference in Helsinki that the European Union should enlarge dramatically, increasing its membership from the current 27 to over 40 states. He said the union’s strategic autonomy and global influence depend on size and suggested admitting non‑European countries such as Canada, as well as the United Kingdom, Turkey, Norway, Iceland and others. Stubb warned that the window for a major expansion is short, linked to the end of the war in Ukraine and a possible change in the U.S. administration. He noted that the EU already has nine candidate countries, with Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova moving forward, and highlighted the need to address the Western Balkans.

Stubb’s proposal frames EU enlargement as a way to become a more powerful geopolitical bloc, arguing that a larger territory provides greater security and economic weight. He called for flexible membership models that could accommodate the envisaged 40‑state union.