Finland Times

 

Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (left) and Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday, Jan 29, 2016. Photo Lehtikuva.

Prime Ministers Juha Sipilä and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Fri-day discussed the ongoing situation of refugee influx from the northern border crossing points.

 

The Prime Ministers of the neighbouring countries met in St Petersburg during Sipilä´s first visit to Russia after taking over as Prime Minister.

 

During the meeting, Sipilä expressed his concern over developments at Finland-Russia border, said an official press release.

 

Finland has always ensured effective management and security of its borders. By the same token, Finland also ensures responsible management of the EU's external border, said Sipilä.

 

“The closing of illegal immigration channels is in the best interest of both coun-tries. By working together we can avoid the generation of different types of prob-lems and threats to the internal security of either nation,” said the Finnish Prime Minister, adding, “We both agreed that we must swiftly find a sustainable solution to this situation.”

 

“The long-standing good dialogue between our competent authorities will contin-ue,” Sipilä said.

 

The meeting of the premiers focused on topical bilateral relations, including mat-ters related to trade, commerce and the economy. 

 

Photo Lehtikuva.

The situation in the Ukraine, the relations between the EU and Russia and the in-ternational situation in broader terms were also discussed during the meeting.

 

“My aim has been to meet my colleagues in all our neighbouring countries in the course of my first year in office. The discussions my colleague Prime Minister Medvedev and I had were open and positive,” said Sipilä.

 

He said that though trade between the two countries has dropped significantly, Russia remains an important trading partner for Finland. Russians also still consti-tute a major tourist group in Finland.

 

The premiers also discussed the situation in Ukraine and Sipilä noted that Finland is fully committed to the EU's common foreign policy, including the sanctions stemming from the Ukraine situation. 

 

The implementation of the Minsk agreement is in a key role in the relations be-tween the EU and Russia.

 

This was the first meeting between Prime Ministers Sipilä and Medvedev. The prime ministers of Finland and Russia last met in October 2013.

 

News agency Xinhua adds: Talks between Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Finnish counterpart Juha Sipilä at St Petersburg on Friday did not bring an immediate solution to stop migrants from crossing borders and enter Finland to seek asylum.

 

Since autumn last year, more than 1,000 people crossed the Russia-Finland border without a Schengen visa and applied for asylum in Finland. The two prime minis-ters said at a press briefing that they would return to the matter next week by phone.

 

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at a post meeting press conference, however, refuted the interpretation that the crossing of asylum seekers from Russia to Finland was a Russian policy, reported news agency STT.

 

“Such kind of claims are just nonsense,” Medvedev said.