Finnish Foreign Ministry urges Hamas to renounce violence

Erkki Tuomioja

print this

Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has urged the hard-line Hamas movement, the winner in the Palestinian Parliamentary elections, to renounce violence, and to honour previous commitments made by the Palestinian Authority.
      "On this basis, the European Union is willing to continue its cooperation with the Palestinian Authority in order to improve the living conditions of the Palestinians and to promote the peace process", said Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja in a statement issued on Thursday.
      The Foreign Ministry also sees no reason to question the fairness of the election.
      "The result must therefore be respected as the will of the Palestinians, rising from the frustration with corruption and governance failures during the Fatah rule as well as from the stagnation of the peace process in the Middle East which has not brought relief to their daily lives. The result cannot be interpreted as endorsement to the religious fundamentalism of Hamas nor to its previous violence", Foreign Minister Tuomioja wrote.
     
The Hamas victory was a cause for concern in a number of countries. US President George W. Bush asked how a political party can take part in a peace process, while advocating the destruction of one of the countries involved.
      Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi characterised the outcome as a "very, very, very bad result".
      British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Britain could only deal with people who reject terrorism.
      Russia’s Foreign Ministry called on the new Palestinian Parliament to respect the Mideast peace process.


Links:
  Press release 26 January, 2006: Statement by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on the elections in the Palestinian Authority

Helsingin Sanomat