Finnish President Alexander Stubb attends a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Gitarnas Nausėda (not shown) at the presidential palace.
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HELSINKI, Finland — Finnish President Alexander Stubbe has outlined his vision for a bigger European Union, saying the 27-nation bloc needs to “think big” and seize the opportunity to flex its muscles on the world stage.
Speaking at an energy conference in the Finnish capital on Wednesday, Mr Stubbe said the EU should push to increase its membership to 40, naming the UK, Canada, Turkey, Norway and Iceland as potential members.
His comments came as the Trump administration’s actions parallel to Russia’s war against Ukraine have prompted some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership.
Stubbe told the EU Electric Power Summit that the “window of opportunity” for EU enlargement is very short, “because once the Ukraine war is over and maybe the US administration changes, I don’t know, then people will take their foot off the gas and start complaining about unnecessary things again.”
Stubb added that “Europe’s strategic autonomy, Europe’s geopolitical power” is “often based on size and scale, and I think the best European policy in history is European enlargement.”
“At the moment we need to think geographically big and expand or at least create a membership that is flexible enough to include a total of 40 European countries, or even countries outside Europe,” Stubbe said.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
The EU is aiming for its biggest expansion in a generation, with all nine candidate countries aiming to join the bloc over the next few years. Montenegro and Albania are seen as the frontrunners in the Western Balkans, while Ukraine and Moldova are close to starting formal accession negotiations.
Finland’s president said the EU should look west and bring Britain back into the bloc after leaving the bloc in 2020, or at least bring it “as close as possible”.
Stubbe said Canada should be considered as another option. “Wouldn’t it be nice if Canada were the 28th state of the European Union instead of the 51st state of the United States?”
US President Donald Trump has flaunted his ambition to annex Canada. In a Truth Social post earlier this week, Trump wrote, “The 51st state!” while sharing a Bloomberg news article about Canada entering its first tech recession since 2020.
“No one is talking about Türkiye.”
“We need to think seriously about Turkey,” Stubb told the conference, after considering Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
“No one is talking about Turkey anymore. We need to open our minds to understand that Turkey needs to be as close as possible, at least from a security perspective,” Stubb said.
“Then we go south or southeast and look at the Western Balkans. So that’s the hottest place in Europe… That’s very important. What do we do with Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia? What do we do with Bosnia and Herzegovina?” he added.
Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, Deputy Minister of European Affairs Marilena Raouna of the Republic of Cyprus, and Commissioner for European Enlargement Marta Kos hold a joint press conference after attending the 8th EU-Albania Accession Conference held in Brussels, Belgium, on May 26, 2026.
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“And finally, the ones that are really close to my heart are up north, Iceland, where they’re having a referendum, and Norway,” Stubbe said.
“If we want to make a difference in the world, we need to start thinking big. But I don’t know who will do this, when, where or how,” Stubbe said.
Iceland’s parliament recently voted in favor of holding a referendum on August 29th on whether to start EU accession negotiations. The small Nordic country applied to join the EU in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis, but suspended accession talks four years later.
Former Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir previously told CNBC that she did not understand the debate about joining the EU, adding that the country already maintains close economic cooperation with the EU and its people enjoy a high standard of living.
Blue Lagoon geothermal spa near the fishing town of Grindavik, Iceland, May 23, 2024.
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Jakobsdottir told CNBC in mid-April: “If the majority of the population wants to apply, it’s very important to listen to that majority, but I haven’t changed my position.”
Norway is reportedly reconsidering its relationship with Brussels as it navigates the power struggle between the US and China. Oslo has twice refused EU membership.
