Russian Trade Minister lambasts Finnish media over pimping scandal

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According to Suomen Kuvalehti, a Finnish weekly news magazine, Russia’s Trade Minister German Gref has phoned his Finnish colleague, Foreign Trade and Development Minister Paula Lehtomäki (Centre) over recent writings in the Finnish press. Gref reportedly demanded that the Helsinki government should intervene over the way Finnish media have been writing about the suspicions of prostitution having been carried on in some of the diplomatic flats owned by the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Finland.
      Apparently Minister Gref and Minister Lehtomäki had slightly different views as to the possibilities of Finland’s government to influence or gag the media.
     
Moreover, some officials in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs had allegedly been surprised at the way Minister Gref had conveyed his demand. According to Suomen Kuvalehti, Minister Lehtomäki had earlier received an urgent message asking her to phone Gref concerning a regular administrative issue.
      During the telephone conversation, Russia’s Trade Minister had unexpectedly leant into Lehtomäki with his complaints about the aftermath of the pimping scandal.
      Apparently, the discussion took place after the pimping scandal had already blown up, but before police confirmed on January 19th that even the Russian Trade Representation in Finland had received pimping money.
     
The pimping suspicions, as far as they are related to the Trade Representation’s operations, became public on December 1st last year (see links below).
      In recent months, the Finnish media have published several news reports that have not pleased the Kremlin. Just a week ago, Russia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov criticised an opinion poll taken in Finland last summer on the issue of whether or not Finland should be given back the areas of Karelia annexed by the Soviet Union after the last war. Lavrov regarded such polls as provocative.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Police say Russian diplomatic mission gets pimping money (20.1.2005)
  Russian Foreign Minister denounces Finnish opinion poll on Karelia as "provocation" (20.1.2005)
  Russian diplomats suspected of aggravated pimping (2.12.2004)
  Russia sends Finland diplomatic note over investigation into pimping operation in Helsinki (27.10.2004)

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