Russia recalls diplomat Kozin

Embassy distances itself from NATO comments

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Vladimir Kozin, a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, has been recalled to Moscow. The move comes after Kozin raised controversy over his comments on how Russia might react to possible Finnish NATO membership.
      Markus Lyra, Undersecretary of State at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, told Helsingin Sanomat that the Foreign Ministry was informed of Kozin's impending departure, and that the Russian Embassy repudiated Kozin's statements.
      Lyra said that Kozin was probably scheduled to return to Moscow anyway, and that the NATO statements speeded things up.
     
Earlier in the week Kozin had said that possible Finnish membership in NATO would be a military threat to Russia.
      He also called for a strategic partnership agreement between Russia and Finland, as well as military cooperation between the two countries, including joint military exercises.
      In a press release issued on Thursday, Russian Ambassador Alexander Rumyanchev said that do not represent the official views of Russia, or the views of the Russian Embassy in Finland.
      The statement said that Kozin's comments were his personal opinions, which he made in his capacity as a researcher.
     
Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva (Nat. Coalition Party) emphasised on Thursday that Finland will make its own decisions in security policy. "No other country will lead us by the hand", he told Helsingin Sanomat.
      According to Kanerva, no diplomat from a neighbouring country can give the sovereign country of Finland instructions or orders. He added that Kozin's statements only indicate that there are different kinds of views on the subject in Russia.
      As he sees it, Kozin's statements contained "more enthusiasm than knowledge of conditions in Finland".
      "Fortunately, the presidents and we foreign ministers have direct channels of communication that function so well that these kinds of things do not cause trouble."
      Kanerva added that it is understandable that Kozin's comments caused an uproar.
     
Kozin first spoke about the matter at an international seminar at the Department of Strategy at the National Defence University.
      At the seminar he was to have spoken about security in the Baltic Sea from Russia's point of view, but to the surprise of the organisers, he started his presentation with a political review, which included views on the relation between Finland and NATO.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russian Embassy repudiates comments by diplomat on possible Finnish NATO membership (18.10.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat