The loneliness of a stray Finnish missile

The good people of Finland had prepared themselves for a more or less routine presidency.

But Hizbullah changed their plans. Instead of having cosy lakeside sauna sittings in the middle of nowhere the Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja had to circulate the Middle East in August like a stray missile.

Tuomioja, whose native country is an advocate for more transparency in politics, has accused member states of leaking important foreign policy documents outside the EU, including Israel.

The leaks have a negative influence on the EU’s foreign policy capabilities, he said.

After decades in politics he should not be surprised that meetings leak, but maybe this time they leak into the wrong hands.

It is a mission repulsive anyway for the Finns and especially for Tuomioja who used to be an anti-US campaigner and dove of peace in the days of the Vietnam War but who, contrary to many of his contemporaries such as José Manuel Barroso, Javier Solana and Joschka Fischer, is still a believer.

He is carrying the notorious emblem of peace on his jacket lapel and gives sour statements of opinions regarding the US and Israel in his blog even if he does not lose his balance in front of the international press.

In domestic politics Tuomioja is a loner and a work addict whose spare time occupations are long distance running and reading.

He is fluent in five languages but a very taciturn man. Because of his uncommunicative nature and almost arrogant behaviour he has never become the social democratic party leader in spite of his superior intelligence. Or maybe that’s why.

He has international politics in his veins. His father died in 1964 while negotiating as a UN agent in the Cyprus dispute.

His Estonian grandmother was imprisoned by the Finns during the Second World War because of spying for the Soviets.

The present Lebanon crisis will most probably not be solved during the Finnish presidency and there will be a great sigh of relief in Finland when Germany takes the torch.

Since the old Soviet times the Finns are reluctant to take sides between the great powers. They like to be liked.

The Finns would have so much more liked to discuss R&D, nuclear power, the Northern Dimension etc, than the burning matters of the Middle East.

The good people of Finland had prepared themselves for a more or less routine presidency.