Conservative National Coalition Party chairman and Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen says that there is a tendency among Finns to be excessively jumpy about questions concerning Russia.
He says that Finns react “out of old memory”.
Russia’s reaction to the recent downplaying of its great power status by Katainen and Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party) was one of consternation.
Konstantin Kosachov, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian Duma reacted to the Finnish ministers’ comments in an interview with the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Thursday. Kosachov said that he plans to discuss the matter with Katainen.
Katainen said later in the day that the Russian reaction did not surprise him. He also said that Kosachov is an old buddy, and that the two have exchanged text messages on the matter.
Earlier in the week the National Coalition Party ministers noted that Russia wants to see itself as a great power, but that on an economic level, it is not.
Stubb said that Finns should not be too skittish about debate with Russia, even if it might be somewhat tough at times.
“We will be seeing more family disputes in the future, we have wood tariffs and land disputes to deal with, but we must not be afraid of them. We need to be able to discuss matters with Russia”, Stubb said.
Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen (Centre) voiced criticism at the National Coalition Party ministers, writing in the Centre Party newspaper Suomenmaa that they were trying to pander to voters by stoking anti-Russian attitudes.
