Finland Times

  Niinistö told media that it is important to talk about ways to end the civil war in Syria, as more than 4 million Syrians have been forced to flee abroad.

     "The solution to the problem can be another dimension than receiving refugees," the president was quoted as saying.

    Niinistö said there have been some signs that the United States and Russia have started the discussion on resolving the crisis in Syria. He said it is a good thing.

     The president hoped that the United States and Russia could move closer to ending the conflicts in Syria.

     Since the beginning of this year, a large number of refugees have come to the European Union.

     According to the latest figures published by the International Organization for Migration, so far there have been 237,000 migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Europe.

     The Finnish Immigration Service predicted last month that the number of asylum seekers arriving in Finland in 2015 may rise to 15,000.

The new estimate is between 25,000 and 30,000, however, it may be less or more," the Interior Minister Petteri Orpo told news agency STT on Friday.