Finnish and Russian foreign ministers: Missiles have no effect on EU cooperation

Stubb and Lavrov share laugh over exchange on Finland’s position

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The announcement by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on the deployment of Iskander missiles in the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad will have no bearing on the EU-Russia summit in Nice on Friday, say Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The two met in Moscow on Tuesday.
      Russia’s announcement comes in response to plans by the United States to deploy a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
     
“When America announced its project, we told the EU that the plans will affect our discussions with the EU on security. We were told that this is not the case, and that this is a bilateral matter between the United States, and Poland and the Czech Republic", said Lavrov.
      Lavrov says that the missiles will be deployed in Kaliningrad only if the US really moves forward with its project.
      “As I am not the foreign minister of Russia, the USA, Poland, or the Czech Republic, I have nothing to say to this”, Stubb commented.
      Last week Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticised Russia’s missile deployment plans.
      Lavrov says that Europe still has the possibility to rethink security in the region, and to decide that instead of individual projects, security should be developed collectively.
     
On Tuesday Lavrov spoke about a new European security architecture, under the name of the Euro-Atlantic security treaty.
      According to Stubb and Lavrov, the new security system will be discussed at the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Helsinki in early December.
      In an interview in Sunday’s Helsingin Sanomat Lavrov referred to Finland as a neutral country. On the following day Stubb responded to his Russian colleague, saying that Finland is not neutral (see links below). Now both foreign ministers shared a laugh over whether or not Russia has any uncertainty about Finland’s position.
      According to Lavrov, Finland will decide itself how to define its position.
      “Russia respects the status that Finland chooses for itself. Everything else is either synonyms or translation difficulties”, Lavrov said.
      “I like that answer”, Stubb continued. In his view, 'neutrality' is a word of the past. Finland is a country that is not a member of a military alliance.
     
British Army captain Ryan Grist, who served with the OSCE during the war in Georgia in August, has criticised the OSCE that it failed to give any warning about an impending conflict.
      According to Stubb, the OSCE gave out information about the escalation of the situation already in the spring.
      Stubb would not take a detailed stand on “the statements of people who are no longer in the service of the OSCE”.
      Stubb questions Grist’s reliability: “If he has been moved to other duties, so to say, it can be that there is a reason for it.”
     
On Tuesday Stubb also had the chance to meet with Medvedev’s advisor Sergei Prihodko.
      “The purpose of the meeting with Prihodko was to maintain as good relations as possible with the Kremlin.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russia: Neutral Finland could promote new security treaty (9.11.2008)
  Stubb to Lavrov: “Finland is not neutral” (10.11.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat