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Fri, 17 Apr, 2015 12:10:40 AM German FM visits Finland FTimes – STT Report, April 17  German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) and Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja at a joint press conference in Helsinki on Thursday. Photo – Lehtikuva. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier believes a European common defence force could become a reality one day. However, the realisation of a common force would take decades.
On Thursday, Steinmeier attended a Kalevi Sorsa Foundation foreign policy seminar together with his Finnish counterpart, Erkki Tuomioja.
According to Steinmeier, cooperation in the progress of peace requires intermediate steps. For instance, the European defence ministers could cooperate more.
The discussion was focussed especially on the situation in Ukraine and once again emphasis was put on resolving the conflict politically.
“The violation of international law must be referred by its true name, however, the channel for dialogue still has to be kept open,” said Steinmeier.
On his part, Tuomioja observed that the diplomatic role of the European Union in resolving the Ukrainian crisis has been rather limited.
Steinmeier stated the role of the EU will become more apparent when the situation in Ukraine becomes calm. The EU member states, for instance, could be encouraged to invest in Ukraine.
The two ministers stressed that not all future threats are military. Climate change and scarcity of clean drinking water could, for instance, be a source of conflict.
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| Thursday, 25 April, 2024 |
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