During a visit to Estonia on Wednesday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) downplayed a controversy that was raised by his comments on the decision by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) to attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.
"It has to be possible to engage in a fresh foreign policy debate in Finland. This is one part of it. The Beijing Olympics are a good way to engage in an open discussion on the human rights situation in China", Stubb said in Tallinn.
Stubb said that there are no dramatic differences of opinion between himself and Prime Minister Vanhanen, even though some people want to see the matter in that light.
On Tuesday Stubb had told reporters that under the present circumstances he would not have attended the ceremonies himself.
Stubb said that Vanhanen's timing is a problem because it makes it more difficult to form a common stand with the EU.
Estonia's foreign Minister Urmas Paet says that Estonia has not yet decided on the possible attendance of its own leaders in the opening event. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said a month ago that he would not be attending because of scheduling difficulties.
Paet said that he is nevertheless a "fiery" supporter of the common EU foreign policy. However, he said that a common line on participation in the opening ceremonies would require a decision on whether or not the opening is considered a political event.
"There is no common view that the opening in Beijing would be a political event", Paet said.
