Tue, 30 Apr, 2013 12:00:35 AM Helsinki to provide €30m development aid to Kabul a year FTimes-STT Reports, April 30
 Afghan President Hamid Karzai (L), Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen give a press conference in Helsinki, Finland on April 29, 2013. Afghan President Karzai arrived to Finland for a working visit today. On the agenda are discussions of Finnish Afghan relations and AfghanistanÆs development. Photo - Lehtikuva The visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen signed Monday an agreement on Finnish cooperation to Afghanistan.
Karzai arrived in Helsinki on Monday on an official visit and since has held a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Katainen.
During the meetings with the Finnish authorities, Karzai sought Finland’s support in training Afghan security forces and police.
The bilateral agreement signed Monday will come into effect from 2014 after withdrawal of the NATO-led ISAF troops from the Asian country.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai (2 from L), English Sauli Niinistö (in the background) and Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen (R) give a press conference in Helsinki, Finland on April 29, 2013. Afghan president Karzai arrived to Finland for a working visit today. On the agenda are discussions of English AfghanistanÆs Afghan relations and development. Photo - Lehtikuva The Finnish authorities during the meeting assured the Afghan president of providing a development aid of EUR 30 million every year and at least half of the amount would be given directly for the country’s development budget.
Helsinki has already been providing Kabul EUR 190 million in annual grants for the past one decade.
Niinistö drew attention of the visiting president to the imperative of having a congenial atmosphere and stable political situation in the country after the withdrawal of NATO forces.
Karzai at a joint press conference ahead of the agreement-signing ceremony said the situation in some areas of his country vacated by the foreign troops had partially improved.
He, however, admitted that the Taliban were still in control of some areas.
The visiting president thanked Finland for extending cooperation to his country and hoped to import the world’s best Finnish schooling system in future.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen shake hands as they arrive to the House of the Estates in Helsinki, Finland on April 29, 2013. Afghan President Karzai arrived to Finland for a working visit today. On the agenda are discussions of Finnish Afghan relations and AfghanistanÆs development. Photo - Lehtikuva About a report run by the New York Times, Karzai said his government had received huge cash from the CIA. The money has been used to bear the expenditures of the government in various sectors, he claimed.
To a query about Kabul’s position on allowing the Taliban in politics, he said if the Taliban entered the political process in a democratic way, it would not hamper the reform programmes.
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