United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed regrets on Tuesday evening that she would not be able to attend the Ministerial Council meeting of the OSCE in Helsinki on Thursday as had been planned.
Rice met with Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) in Brussels on Tuesday evening. Her planned visit to Helsinki was pre-empted by a trip to India that the US Secretary of State took as a show of solidarity for the country in the wake of the recent terror attacks in Mumbai.
The two met in Brussels for about 20 minutes in connection with a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday evening.
Rice and Stubb discussed a recent security initiative put forward by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, and about the situation in India and Pakistan.
Stubb characterised Rice’s view of Russia’s security initiative as “cautiously inquisitive”. He also said, however, that Rice did not see a need for any new institutions or systems.
Stubb also discussed the agenda of the OSCE meeting with Rice. Both agreed that European security is dependent on three baskets - security, economics, and democracy.
The Finnish Foreign Minister has met with Secretary of State Rice three times in the last eight months.
“Relations between Finland and the United States have become closer than before”, Stubb said.
