President Tarja Halonen says that those who decided on the schedule of the repatriation of additional Finnish crisis management forces deployed in Afghanistan made unilateral decisions which ignored decisions that had been made by the country’s leaders.
In an interview with the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Tuesday Halonen did not mention names, but the criticism appeared to be aimed at the Defence Staff and the Ministry of Defence.
In the interview, the President said that she expects decisions to be respected in the future.
The President and the government’s Foreign and Security Policy Committee will convene on Friday in a joint session to discuss the need for possible changes in decision-making concerning crisis management.
Halonen would not yet say if actual changes are needed.
