Parliament praises Prime Minister Vanhanen for EU summit meeting

Matti Vanhanen

print this

For the most part the Finnish Parliament agreed on Thursday that last Friday's unofficial EU summit meeting in Lahti hosted by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) had been a great success.
      "Thank you for your praise and congratulations", Vanhanen finally managed to say after being commended on his achievements by the entire Parliament, including the far right and the far left opposition. The deluge of plaudits lasted more than an hour.
     
What was considered a real achievement was the fact that the EU managed to speak with one voice in the discussions with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Vanhanen was further applauded for bringing up subjects such as the human rights situation and the state of democracy in Russia, not forgetting the freedom of the press and the recent assassination of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
      "The message from the EU came across loud and clear. It was not sugar-coated", Vanhanen noted when recounting the Lahti discussions to the Parliament.
      "The European Union does not always manage to work together towards common goals, but in Lahti we succeeded. We must not let outside forces divide and conquer the Union", the Finnish Prime Minister formulated.
      Even Timo Soini, the chairman of the far-right True Finns, who traditionally are vehemently against the EU, admitted that "the organisation and the security arrangements of the summit meeting were taken care of admirably." In his view the meeting itself nevertheless cannot be considered either a success or a failure, as ultimately nothing was decided there.
     
The most critical view came from the Green benches. MP Heidi Hautala pointed out that it was too early to tell whether the meeting was a success. Hautala also requested that Vanhanen bring up the Russian democracy development again in the official EU and Russia summit meeting in Helsinki in November.
      Vanhanen dismissed suspicions that the newly-found unity within the EU would not last in the Helsinki meeting. "Next month it'll be even easier for the Union to stand united, as it is represented by only one person", he said. That person will be Vanhanen himself.
      Vanhanen admitted that during its six-month Presidency term Finland has deliberately kept a low profile with regard to the EU Constitution discussion.
      The PM sees the dispute between Turkey and Cyprus as the most critical question towards the end of Finland's spell at the EU helm. In his words: "Finland will genuinely try to find a compromise solution to the problem".


Previously in HS International Edition:
  FRIDAY NIGHT: Lahti informal EU summit culminates in "frank and open exchange of ideas" with President Putin, mainly on energy questions (20.10.2006)

Links:
  Finnish EU Presidency website

Helsingin Sanomat