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Home NATIONALNordic defense cooperation not against anyone: Niinistö
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Tue, 14 Apr, 2015 12:08:01 AM
President plans to contact Putin
Article was not drafted secretly, Finnish leaderships informed: Haglund
FTimes-STT-Xinhua Report, April 14

President Sauli Niinistö on Monday claimed that the Nordic defense cooperation was not meant to threaten anyone, reported News Agency STT.

The comment was made as a response to a statement that the Russian foreign ministry released on Sunday saying that the joint call for increased Nordic defense cooperation was a cause for concern.

Niinistö, who is on a visit to the United Arab Emirates also said it was good to have a discussion about the article in advance with the president together with the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy.

Niinistö said the article clearly dealt with the dimensions of foreign and security policy.

The article signed by defence ministers of Sweden, Norway and Denmark as well as by foreign minister of Iceland was published on Friday in Norwegian daily Aftenposten.

The article states that the reason behind the agreement is a result of Russia's aggressive conduct in the vicinity of the Nordic countries.

The Russian statement followed a Nordic ministerial declaration disclosed on the Norwegian daily Aftenposten on Thursday calling for deepened defense cooperation among Nordic countries to respond to what they described as a "Russian threat".

"It is a misinterpretation to think that Nordic co-operation somehow opposes Russia,” Niinistö was quoted by STT as saying.

"It is not justified to give rise to the impression that the background of the long-standing Nordic co-operation would be emphatically a Russian threat," Niinistö added.

He said the aim of the cooperation was to support and strengthen the stability and security of the region.

"I have made it clear to the Russians that we are developing cooperation in the Nordic countries, the EU and NATO partnership, that is, we will build our defenses in every possible way as everyone else is doing," said  Niinistö.

The President said he was planning to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin on issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the general political situation in particular.

Meanwhile, defence minister Carl Haglund on Monday said the defence ministers' joint article was not drafted in secrecy without the knowledge of the Finnish leadership.

According to Haglund, a month ago the President's Office, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a report about the Nordic Defence Ministers meeting in Sweden.

"The report described the agenda of the meeting and pointed out that the ministers have agreed to the Swedish initiative of drafting a joint article," said Haglund.

In response to the article, the Norwegian Defence Minister Eriksen Söreide told the news agency that the article was not a case of a new policy but was in line with the development of the Nordic defence cooperation in recent years.

According to Söreide, it is natural for the defence ministers to discuss defence cooperation in public since it has become increasingly important in recent years.

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Alexander Stubb denied that Finland's defense cooperation would be directed against Russia.

On his part, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja stated there were no plans to change Finland's policy with regard to its eastern neighbour.

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