Kanerva wants NATO report to be made public

Foreign Minister gives key speech on foreign policy

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Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Ilkka Kanerva (Nat. Coalition Party) says that a report on various aspects relating to possible Finnish membership in NATO should be made public. In a major speech on foreign and security policy held at the autumn meeting of the National Defence Association, Kanerva said that only by doing so can the report serve public debate.
     Kanerva characterised the report in terms of a tourist guidebook indicating the price and route into NATO, much as a road map would do. It also describes "the destination honestly and says what kinds of people can be met there".
     "And since this is a question of group travel, the guidebook should be available for all to see", he said, extending the metaphor.
     Later in the month Kanerva is to give a speech on EU policy, which he was supposed to have held in Belgium in early October.
     The Foreign Ministry had previously wanted to make public a survey on Finnish support to Afghanistan, but the project was cancelled.
     
In his speech on Thursday Kanerva said that debate in Finland on NATO membership has "gone past the comb-ceramic age, and the bronze age is slowly coming into sight, but there is still a way to go before reaching the information society".
     He also analysed development in NATO in a positive light. In his view, NATO is the main foundation of European defence, because most EU countries are also members of NATO.
     Kanerva sees the ISAF crisis management operation as NATO's biggest challenge, and he denounced suggestions that Finland should pull out of the NATO-led operation.
     In his view, Finland cannot be a country that partners cannot rely on when bad weather sets in.
     As Kanerva sees it, traditional peacekeeping activities are needed less than before, but there is a greater emphasis on crisis management forces that can be deployed rapidly.
     
The Foreign Minister did not answer a question from the audience asking if he felt that Finland should join NATO. He said that Finland should decide on its participation in the NATO Response Force (NRF) before NATO's summit in Bucharest in April
     He emphasised that NATO membership would not mean the end of Finland's conscription-based defence forces.
     He also said that the European Union's security guarantees are not intended as a mechanism for regional defence.
     In Kanerva's view, national foreign policy is experiencing a resurgence in Europe, and protecting of national interests is becoming stronger in the EU. He feels that Finland needs to increase its "pragmatic edge" in its activities, although it also needs to think about the interests of the EU as a whole.
     He emphasised the importance of closer cooperation among Norway, Sweden and Finland in foreign and security policy.
     
Kanerva believes that Russia sees Europe as a dispersed area, and that its main perceived threats are terrorism, separatism, and NATO.
     "Russia is a challenge and an opportunity for Finland, which is worth grasping", he said. He feels that these possibilities are covered by the Russia programme being prepared in the Foreign Ministry.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poll: Finns increasingly uncertain over NATO; no increase in fear of Russia (11.9.2007)
  Antti Sierla to draft NATO report (23.8.2007)
  Foreign Minister Kanerva: Finland should not delay decision on NRF forces (17.8.2007)
  Finland and Sweden to stay out of core of NATO Response Force (26.10.2007)
  Russian Foreign Minister: Finland´s debate on NATO arouses interest in Russia (24.10.2007)

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