Finns bark, but they don’t bite

Little Finland has never been more important during its entire history than during this second half of 2006.

When President Tarja Halonen gave a speech at the United Nations General Assembly she spoke not only for the EU but also on behalf of the rest of Europe, apart from Iceland, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, and, oh yes, Belarus.

Some Finns wonder why it is still the national president who represents the nation abroad during the EU presidency and not Matti Vanhanen, the prime minister, as in most European countries.

The honest answer to this is that Vanhanen is simply not capable of handling foreign policy matters. That is also why Erkki Tuomioja, the foreign minister, is busy shuttling between Middle Eastern and European capitals.

It is well-known that since the time of the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and former prime minister Paavo Lipponen, Finnish-US relations have been at best lukewarm. The reason is Halonen.

Margaret Thatcher was the lady swinging her handbag from the Right, President Halonen’s is coming at you from the Left.

Since her radical years during the Vietnam conflict, she has been critical of the US and that has continued. But it was noteworthy that her UN speech was carefully balanced, as is appropriate when speaking for 36 nations (including countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine, who all aligned themselves with her statement).

Unlike his father, George W. Bush has not paid a visit to Finland and the US ambassadors to Finland are at a level close to insulting, normally politically-nominated good-for-nothing businessmen - and women - who have been generous to the GOP.

Halonen was criticised back home when she at one meeting spontaneously straightened President Bush’s tie. (If that was sexual harassment it was of a much milder variety than Bush’s celebrated ambush from behind of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.)

The US administration may have interpreted this sartorial intervention as another oblique lesson in democracy from a small country. It’s true that Halonen believes in the UN, while Bush himself believes in God Almighty, who is supposed to be on his side, which the UN is not.

Halonen’s thinking dates from the days when the Soviet Union had a say in Finnish foreign policy. Even today, "love thy neighbour" means that Finnish leaders hardly ever find much critical to say about Vladimir Putin.

And after the presidential election in Estonia the Social Democratic President Toomas Henrik Ilves is more likely to receive an official invitation from the White House than from his colleague Tarja across the Baltic in Helsinki.

Little Finland has never been more important during its entire history than during this second half of 2006.

When President Tarja Halonen gave a speech at the United Nations General Assembly she spoke not only for the EU but also on behalf of the rest of Europe, apart from Iceland, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, and, oh yes, Belarus.

Some Finns wonder why it is still the national president who represents the nation abroad during the EU presidency and not Matti Vanhanen, the prime minister, as in most European countries.

The honest answer to this is that Vanhanen is simply not capable of handling foreign policy matters. That is also why Erkki Tuomioja, the foreign minister, is busy shuttling between Middle Eastern and European capitals.

It is well-known that since the time of the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and former prime minister Paavo Lipponen, Finnish-US relations have been at best lukewarm. The reason is Halonen.

Margaret Thatcher was the lady swinging her handbag from the Right, President Halonen’s is coming at you from the Left.

Since her radical years during the Vietnam conflict, she has been critical of the US and that has continued. But it was noteworthy that her UN speech was carefully balanced, as is appropriate when speaking for 36 nations (including countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine, who all aligned themselves with her statement).

Unlike his father, George W. Bush has not paid a visit to Finland and the US ambassadors to Finland are at a level close to insulting, normally politically-nominated good-for-nothing businessmen - and women - who have been generous to the GOP.

Halonen was criticised back home when she at one meeting spontaneously straightened President Bush’s tie. (If that was sexual harassment it was of a much milder variety than Bush’s celebrated ambush from behind of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.)

The US administration may have interpreted this sartorial intervention as another oblique lesson in democracy from a small country. It’s true that Halonen believes in the UN, while Bush himself believes in God Almighty, who is supposed to be on his side, which the UN is not.

Halonen’s thinking dates from the days when the Soviet Union had a say in Finnish foreign policy. Even today, "love thy neighbour" means that Finnish leaders hardly ever find much critical to say about Vladimir Putin.

And after the presidential election in Estonia the Social Democratic President Toomas Henrik Ilves is more likely to receive an official invitation from the White House than from his colleague Tarja across the Baltic in Helsinki.

Little Finland has never been more important during its entire history than during this second half of 2006.