Foreign Minister Tuomioja speaks of good relations between Finland and USA

Finnish Minister meets Secretary of State Powell in Washington

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Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja met with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington on Wednesday. The discussions, which Tuomioja characterised as positive, stretched somewhat longer than planned.
      Earlier in the day Tuomioja went to the White House for a meeting with Stephen Hadley, assistant to the President’s security policy adviser Condoleeza Rice.
      The discussions with Hadley touched upon the resignation of former Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri from his post as head of the United Nations Interim Mission in Kosovo; Tuomioja and Hadley agreed that the international community, and not Holkeri, had failed.
     
Tuomioja expressed wonder at talk suggesting that some kind of "fundamentalist anti-Americanism" would prevail in Finland.
      He said that one sign of good relations on the official level was the frequency of visits by Finnish political leaders in Washington.
      "Everyone has been here. It must be pretty heavy work for the Embassy."
     
With no bilateral problems to deal with, discussions focused on international questions.
      Foreign minister Tuomioja also met with Undersecretary of State Richard Burns. Topics in their discussions included issues related to globalisation; some Finnish commentators have dismissed those who focus on such questions as trivial do-gooders, suggesting that it would be more important to focus on nurturing relations with Washington.
      However, there is an increasing interest in Washington for those very issues, which are seen as having a clear connection with the war on terrorism.
     
Iraq was a key topic of discussions during Tuomioja’s visit. Both the Finnish Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State felt that the UN Security Council will reach agreement on a resolution that would help transfer sovereignty to the Iraqis at the end of June.
      Tuomioja said that he emphasised the indivisibility of self-determination. He also said that Powell had conceded that the situation in Iraq has not developed as the United States expected and hoped it would.
      Now the focus is on the role of the UN, and on seeking multilateral international solutions. "Causes of disagreement have not gone away, but the need to find solutions is mutual", Tuomioja said.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Harri Holkeri leaves Kosovo post for health reasons (26.5.2004)
  Finnish candidates to European Parliament want EU to be counterbalance to USA (18.5.2004)
  PM Vanhanen: USA must be kept interested in Europe (12.5.2004)
  Professor and Minister disagree with criticism of President Halonen (28.4.2004)
  Halonen responds to criticism: Supporting the poor is in Finland’s interest (27.4.2004)
  Halonen criticised as global do-gooder; PM Vanhanen comes to President’s defence (26.4.2004)

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