Vanhanen: Russian election a strong mandate for status quo
Matti Vanhanen
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Russia's Presidential election gave a strong mandate to the policy line implemented in recent years, says Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre).
Dmitri Medvedev , the favoured successor of President Vladimir Putin , won a landslide victory, with more than 70 percent of the vote.
In an interview with the Finnish News Agency STT, Prime Minister Vanhanen said that it is important for Finland that the political line exercised by Putin in the past eight years should continue.
"It is important from Finland's point of view, that Russia should be as stable and predictable country as possible. In this respect, the continuity of the policy line of the past few years brings stability", he said.
With Medvedev ascending to the Presidency, Putin is expected to take over as Prime Minister. Vanhanen sees this as an unusual situation – something that people in the west are not accustomed to.
"However, it is important that both have given assurances that they are cooperating well in their new tasks."
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Helsingin Sanomat
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