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Wed, 14 May, 2014 12:09:42 AM Niinistö-Ilves meet in Helsinki Ukrainian crisis generates mistrust between EU, Russia FTimes-STT-Xinhua Report, May 14  Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves (L) and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö attended a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki on Tuesday. Photo – Lehtikuva. President Sauli Niinistö and his visiting Estonian counterpart Toomas Hendrik Ilves on Tuesday expressed concern about a possible refugee emergency following the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
The European Union should prepare for a huge refugee influx in case the crisis deepens into a war, they told a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki, reports the news agency STT.
The Ukraine situation would be costly, observed the presidents of the two neighbouring countries, adding that the EU should take the possibility of a refugee problem more seriously.
Regarding the action of the EU following the crisis, Ilves expressed surprise that countries with little trade contact with Russia are the most vocal in spearheading the call for economic sanctions against Russia.
Niinistö said that the Ukraine crisis has generated a deep mistrust between the EU and Russia, reports the news agency Xinhua quoting a press release issued by the presidential office.
Niinistö said the Ukraine crisis made Europe face a new situation, which no one could predict.
“It seems as if we have been taking steps backwards. I don’t mean a new Cold War, but we are facing a deep mistrust this time between the EU and Russia, which may continue for a long time,” said the Finnish head of state.
He said the most important thing at the moment is to prevent the violence from spreading out.
According to Niinistö, Finland is ready to increase its contribution to the observation mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Both the presidents believe that the upcoming Ukrainian presidential election is important for the country’s situation.
In addition to the Ukraine crisis, the discussion between the two presidents also focused on bilateral relations between Finland and Estonia as well as regional economic and security cooperation.
Ilves is on a state visit to Finland from May 12 to 14.
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