The well-connected can jump the White House queue

By Kari Huhta
     
      And for Serbia - zero points.
      This is not about singing, or a ball game, but rather the roughest game among world leaders - a visit to the President of the United States.
      It doesn't matter that the host is George W. Bush. More important is the chance to visit the President of the United States. At the very least, one is left with a the souvenir photograph, in which Bush sits on the right side of an open fireplace, and the guest is on the left.
      Serbian leaders have no such photographs, but Finns do. This puts Finland in a 2-0 lead against Serbia. Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen was photographed in the fireplace room in December 2002, and President Tarja Halonen got her photograph taken in the same place in April of the same year.
     
However, Finland's victory over Serbia is dimmed by the fact that Serbia's age as an independent country is one year.
      Besides, Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica actually has been a guest of Bush, but back then, in 2001, he was President of Yugoslavia.
      Yugoslavia alone loses out to Finland in the amount of time that has elapsed from its visit to the Bush White House. On the other hand, the whole country ceased to exist in 2003.
     
The United States has long been the world's only superpower. Getting an invitation to the White House has become an indicator of the position that the guest has in the world.
      The lack of an invitation has become a problem - at least in Finland.
      The last time that this was felt was in May, when Bush had enough time in a single week to meet with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, but not for the President of Finland. At that time, there were disagreements over whether or not a problem actually existed.
      One way to get an answer is to count the European guests that Bush has received.
     
At the request of Helsingin Sanomat, the United States Embassy in Helsinki compiled a list of visits by European heads of state and government to see President Bush since he took office in 2001. The most recent visits were from May this year.
      The list, based on information from the White House and the US State Department, mentions the visits of 155 European leaders. Most of the visitors have met Bush in the White House, but some have also met him at the UN General Assembly, or in connection with other events in the United States.
      Included are ceremonial state visits, working visits, and private trips, but none of Bush's own trips, nor are visitors from outside Europe taken into account. Some of the quick visits might be missing from the list.
      The list naturally only gives a rough outline of the external relations of the United States and - as the fancier term goes - of Euro-Atlantic ties.
     
However, it does give a clear picture that from the point of view of the United States, the countries of Europe are evidently divided into two groups.
      The greatest number of visits, 18, has been with Britain. With its two visits, Finland is at the tail end, but to some extent, it is in very good company.
      Below Finland is a group of countries with no visits at all. In addition to Serbia, these include Cyprus, Moldova, Montenegro, Ukraine, and Belarus.
     
As significant as the number of visits for Finland's standing is that an exceptionally long time has passed since the visits took place - four and a half years.
      In addition to Finland, other countries with two Bush points include Albania, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and Estonia. In those countries the number and pace of visits has not caused as much concern as it has in Finland.
      The reason for the lamentation on the part of the Finns goes back to this country's history. In the shadow of the Soviet Union, Finland built up its self-esteem by keeping watch over how others felt about Finland. Later Finland wanted to see itself as a wise mediator country, where great power leaders would come to resolve their problems: there was the CSCE, smaller meetings, and bilateral meetings of the superpowers.
      Finding itself at the tail end of the White House queue did not fit Finland's self-image well.
     
The greatest amount of criticism has been aimed at President Halonen and Erkki Tuomioja, the Foreign Minister in the previous government.
      Various sources say that the United States has sensed personal anti-US attitudes within them, which is why no invitations have been forthcoming.
      Both Halonen and Tuomioja have accused their critics of having political agendas, which is probably true at least to some degree.
     
However that may be, Finland's position on the visit list is a strange one. The pace of visits by other countries is typified by a certain regularity, with no more than a few years between handshakes.
      Bush himself has visited most of the two-point countries, but not Finland. This week Bush has visited Europe, and the programme included Albania. Bush even visited Estonia in late 2006.
      The list also does not give credence to the view expressed by Tarja Halonen that Bush would be inviting more new European guests than the ones that he has already met. For instance, Austria's chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel met Bush in both 2001 and 2005, but Alfred Gusenauer, who succeeded him in January, has not yet been asked to come to Washington.
      The visitors from Belgium, The Netherlands, and Portugal were the same on each of the two occasions.
     
It is clear that events of world politics have an impact on who gets to visit the White House. Still, some of the visits are repeated regardless of political cyclical factors.
      When Bush's first term as President began, it came as no surprise that the first to come to visit him was British Prime Minister Tony Blair. All British prime ministers seek to establish a special relationship with the United States, for which reason the visits have been numerous.
      Blair might nevertheless have set a new record. He met Bush 17 times in the United States. The Queen has visited once.
      Soon after Blair, Bush was visited by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. Visits from Ireland to Washington are as regular as cherry-blossom time. A reason for this is the large and very influential Irish-American population in the USA.
      On the other hand, visits to Washington can serve as prizes, as Vojislav Kostunica learned in May 2001. At that time, Yugoslavia was handing former President Slobodan Milosevic to the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.
     
The terror attacks in New York and Washington on September 11th, 2001 were a turning point in US history.
      The first to come to express support for the United States was French President Jacques Chirac. Since then, Chirac has had the opportunity to visit Bush somewhat infrequently - a total of just five times.
      The number of visits from Russia has not been much greater, although after their first meeting, Bush said that he looked at President Vladimir Putin and saw a trustworthy man.
     
Putin visited the United States for the first time in November 2001; the visit took place at a time that was clearly marked by the terror attacks. Putin visited the ruins of the World Trade Center, and Bush invited him to his ranch in Texas.
      In October and November, war was already going on against the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The war had widespread international support, and the approval of the UN.
      However, the time of unanimity was not very long. The changes were seen in Bush's visit calendar: friends were rewarded. However, there were also surprises, such as the number-two spot on the list.
     
In the early part of 2002 Bush labelled Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "Axis of Evil". The United States started the war with Iraq with the support of Britain in 2003.
      One might imagine that the paltry five Bush points earned by France may have been the result of the country's opposition to the war in Iraq, but perhaps this is not the case.
      The most annoying opponent of the war from the point of view of the United States was without a doubt Germany, led by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Nevertheless, in the ranking list of visits, Germany is in second place, right after Britain.
      If opposition to the war did not prevent visits, support was nevertheless always rewarded. The best examples of this were the former prime ministers of Italy and Spain, Silvio Berlusconi (9 visits) and José Maria Aznar (10).
      However, the most important factor was not the number of visits: there was also the treatment afforded the visitors at the destination. The favourites were able to bring home much more than a photo in front of the mantelpiece. Berlusconi and Aznar, in addition to Blair, were the only ones to be granted the honour of addressing a joint session of the US Congress.
     
Now the flow of visitors to Bush is dwindling.
      In most years, there were more than 20 invitations sent to Europeans, but this year, by the end of May, there had been only six.
      The record year was 2004, when there were 37 visits, partly as a result of the enlargement ceremonies of NATO. Bush met with the leaders of all seven new NATO countries, and those of all three applicants.
      They were important supporters of the United States in the so-called New Europe - the former socialist bloc. Nevertheless, in spite of the conspicuous East European emphasis of Bush's policies, only a third of all visitors come from the former socialist countries.
      Most of the countries of New Europe are nevertheless part of the middle class of Bush visitors, with three or four points each.
      Distinguishing themselves at the top end of the group are Romania and Poland. Poland gets there because of the very large Polish-American community.
     
      Then there is the competition among the Nordic Countries. The winner is Denmark with five visits. Sending soldiers to Iraq clearly brought more invitations.
      Another NATO member, Norway, got just three visits, and to get that, it had to use the royal card. However, two points should actually be given for royal visits, because they might actually get a bit of media attention inside the United States.
      Sweden beats Finland 4 to 2. Social Democratic Prime Minister Göran Persson visited the White House twice.
      Iceland is the only country in the Nordic region to score lower than Finland.
      The talk in Finland is about a possible invitation to President Halonen, but Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has also been left without an invitation.
      The situation would probably not be any different, even if Anneli Jäätteenmäki were to have stayed on as Prime Minister for longer than 63 days. Jäätteenmäki's resignation was linked with public debate on Finland's attitudes toward the war in Iraq.
     
Be that as it may, Finland constitutes a special group on Bush's visitor list - a group that comprises just one country: the visits are few and far between.
      The number of visits is not necessarily the most important measure for determining Finland's place on the world map, but it is one. The long, dry period indicates that there has at least been a disturbance in relations between Finland and the United States. One good chance to fix the situation will come already on Monday.
      At that time, Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva travels to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezzza Rice.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 10.6.2007


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish Foreign Minister invites Rice to Finland (12.16.2007)
  Bush rejects Halonen request for meeting (15.5.2007)
  Foreign Ministry official says relations with USA are in good shape (15.1.2007)
  On keeping up good relations with the U.S. (14.5.2006)
  Prime Minister admits to "moderately long" gap in high level USA visits (15.5.2006)
  Finns increasingly critical of EU, NATO, USA, and immigration (9.1.2007)
  US representative says relations with Finland are in order (9.10.2006)
  President Halonen criticises proposed US terror legislation (23.9.2006)

See also:
  Visitors to the White House 2001-2007