Finland Times

 

File picture of Pertti Salolainen, the Vice-Chairman of the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs. Photo Lehtikuva.

Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties on Wednesday criticised the government for keeping the parliament and the respective parliamentary committee in dark about important bilateral issues.

 

The criticism came following a media report that the government is going to sign a cooperation deal with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).

 

The Sunnuntaisuomalainen, a Finnish language journal reported last week that the government has decided to sign host country agreement with NATO next month.

 

Pertti Salolainen, vice-chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs criticised the government for holding back information about the important decision from the committee.

 

File Photo AFP-Lehtikuva.

Obtaining information about important foreign policy issues through leaks and the media appears to have become a run-of-the-mill practice, observed Salolainen, a lawmaker of the Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party), the main component of the five-party alliance government.

 

Before this, MTV revealed a hacking directed towards the Foreign Ministry, he mentioned.

 

Salolainen said it is difficult for lawmakers to comment on issues which they have no idea about except through media reports.

 

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Paavo Arhinmäki, chief of the Vasemmistoliito (Left Alliance) which recently resigned from the alliance government criticised the government through social media for not disclosing the NATO issue.

 

The Vasemmistoliito broke away from the government last month following disagreement on a fiscal adjustment decision.

 

File picture of Paavo Arhinmäki, the chief of the Vasemmistoliito (Left Alliance), in parliament. Photo Lehtikuva.

Arhinmäki in his Facebook page said the so-called host country agreement was never discussed publicly and neither was it mentioned directly in the recent Foreign and Security Policy Report.

 

The former Minister of Culture and Sports also observed that the issue has not been dealt with in the past three years even at the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy of which he was a member.

 

According to the Sunnuntaisuomalainen report, Finland and NATO will sign in May the so-called host country agreement that will facilitate exceptional circumstances arrangements such as transits and accommodation of crew.

 

According to the Defence Ministry, the agreement does not oblige Finland in any way and neither does it guarantee NATO assistance to Finland.