Critical reactions in Estonia and Sweden

The decision by former Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen to accept a job as a consultant for the Russian-German company Nord Stream has sparked disappointed reactions in Estonia.
     “It was a small surprise that Lipponen accepted the offer”, said Marko Mihkelson of the Union of Pro Patria and res Publica, who serves as the chairman of the committee of EU affairs in the Estonian Parliament.
     “Gazprom (the main Russian owner of Nord Stream, the builder of the pipeline) is a very strong tool of Russian foreign policy.”
     
Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland are all opposed to the undersea pipeline, saying that it should run over land.
     On Friday, Estonian media outlets pointed out that Lipponen had caused something of a scandal last autumn in Tallinn, when he warned Estonia not to support countries such as Georgia and Ukraine, if this would lead to difficult relations with Russia.
     Now Lipponen made his intentions known just as the EU was re-evaluating its relations with Russia in light of the war with Georgia.
     
Not even Estonia’s Social Democrats had much understanding for Lipponen’s move. MEP Andres Tarand noted on the web pages of the newspaper Postimees that “Lipponen’s new step speaks of the power of the Eastern ‘shut your mouth’ policy.”
     Comments in Estonian on-line publications included one in which Lipponen was named “Pavel Liponin”, according to the legendary Pavlik Morozov, who was martyred after betraying his parents to the Soviet police.
     
Lipponen’s new job was mentioned in the Swedish media as well, but it sparked no immediate flood of commentary. The news agency TT noted that it is more acceptable in Finland for politicians to “shed their skin” than in Sweden.
      Carl B. Hamilton, an MP of Sweden’s liberal People’s Party, is one of the harshest critics of the pipeline in Sweden.
      “It feels a little bit bitter, especially now that Russia is in Georgia”, Hamilton said to Helsingin Sanomat.
      Nord Stream has promoted its project to the Baltic Sea countries as primarily a commercial venture. Hamilton says that Lipponen’s appointment is again another indication that the project is strongly a political one.

More on this subject:
 Politicians take mainly positive view of Lipponen pipeline lobbying effort

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Lipponen criticises Estonia´s Russia policy (27.11.2007)
  Planned Baltic Sea gas pipeline poses a political challenge to Estonia (20.9.2007)
  Sweden and Lithuania do not accept planned routing of gas pipeline (20.2.2007)