Vanhanen rejects claim that government has no foreign policy
Dr. Aatos Erkko criticises Vanhanen’s "Calvinist" attitudes toward EU
Matti Vanhanen
|
Aatos Erkko
|
Alexander Stubb
|
|
|
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) says that critics of Finnish policy toward the European Union have failed to notice that Finland’s EU strategy has changed.
"One of the biggest changes is that Finland’s EU policy is no longer based on the assumption of a core within the EU", Vanhanen said during a radio interview programme on the Finnish Broadcasting Company on Sunday.
Vanhanen said that Finland’s EU policy line emphasises the importance of unity among member states in the enlarged Union.
"It has led to a strategic interpretation among us that we must have a flexible ability for coalition-building within the EU."
National Coalition Party MEP Alexander Stubb has accused the government of stepping back and slowing down progress in the EU.
Also criticising the government’s foreign policy line during the weekend was Dr. Aatos Erkko, former Chairman of the Board of Sanoma Corporation.
On a television interview programme Erkko noted that on the official level, Finland largely follows old routines. He says that part of the excessive caution is linked with the way that Prime Minister Vanhanen operates.
"I have taken the liberty to proclaim that our present Prime Minister is a Calvinist", Erkko said.
"A Calvinist is dismissive of everything that is good and emphasises the bad", Erkko said.
He said that the goal in the new constitution to strengthen the position of the Prime Minister can be implemented only if the Prime Minister loves power. In Erkko’s view, this is also difficult for a Calvinist.
As Erkko sees it, the balance of power among the President, Prime Minister, and Minister for Foreign Affairs is unclear, and this has consequences.
"This is what is so worrying; that Finland does not have a real foreign policy", Erkko said.
Vanhanen was not shaken by being called a Calvinist by Erkko.
He noted that school textbooks teach that in Calvinism hard work is seen to be a virtue. "I see this as positive at least in that respect", said Vanhanen in his radio interview.
During the programme, Vanhanen was also asked if Finland might begin discussions with Russia on the return to Finland of the areas of Karelia ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of the last war.
Vanhanen noted that after the war Finland and the Soviet Union signed a peace agreement, which is also the basis of the building of relations between Finland and Russia.
"As Prime Minister I do not want to harm this peace. Making demands of moving the border is simply not an issue for this day", Vanhanen said.
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 22.11.2004 - TODAY |
 Vanhanen rejects claim that government has no foreign policy |
|
