Kommersant: “Russian and Finnish prime ministers discuss sensitive issues”
Vladimir Putin held talks with Matti Vanhanen.
On May 27, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew to Finland to hold brief, cordial talks with his Finnish counterpart and an uneasy joint news conference. Our special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov reports that, in Putin’s opinion, Europe will overcome the crisis, an old woman being deported to Russia should stay in Finland, and foreign tankers cruising in the Baltic Sea should be promptly equipped with Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) receivers.
Lappeenranta, Finland is seen as a remote suburb of St Petersburg because it takes a little more than three hours to get there.
“Finland is an hour behind, so when we come here the shops are still closed,” a Russian who loves Lappeenranta told the paper.
The town which was a remote, unknown village only 15 years ago has become an urban work of art and a veritable garden in bloom with endless shops and warehouses due to high demand from residents of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
Although the town now has a modern airfield, the local pre-revolution railway station remains virtually the same besides new siding.
The prime minister attended the first Russia-EU investment forum. Anatoly Chubais, CEO of the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation, made a speech at the event before Putin, describing not so much the benefits of nanotechnology as the benefits of the corporation under his leadership.
After a short recess before Putin’s arrival, Chubais, who decided to keep a low profile after holding everyone’s attention, told forum organisers that he would prefer sitting in the fourth, rather than the first, row, beside ordinary EU investors.
He had a hard time trying to convince the organizers of his modesty, but he eventually settled in a seat in the fourth row. After that, Chubais saw that new arrivals, among them Minister of Science and Education Andrei Fursenko and Federal Customs Service Head Andrei Belyaninov, who had arrived together with Putin, took their seats in the first row. Chubais reassessed the situation immediately, the democratic sentiments left him, and the awareness that one must always fight for a position in the ranks took the upper hand. Realizing his blunder, he resolutely pushed through the crowd from the fourth row and occupied his legitimate seat in front, opposite the rostrum and Putin.
The Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin disembarked from a new train, the pride of the French transport and infrastructure company Alstom, before attending the forum. This train can travel non-stop from Helsinki to St Petersburg in just about three hours at a speed of 220 km/h, getting power from the different Finnish and Russian energy grids. Russian and Finnish border guards travelling as ordinary passengers from Helsinki to Moscow and back check documents in a relaxed manner, including, it seems, even their own documents because they have nothing else to do.
Vladimir Putin told the forum how much had to be done in order to put this train into operation. This is true of each joint project that, as Putin believes, has to be carried out.
After the forum, both prime ministers visited the single-story town hall located several metres from a daycare children’s centre with a small playground. An operative of the Finnish prime minister’s security service wearing high black leather boots, a black jacket and a black knit cap that betrayed his status stood in the sandbox at the daycare. He was holding a weapon and a microphone protruded from the back of his head towards his mouth.
At first glance, this man had little in common with the sandbox where he stood so confidently. It appeared as if he had grown up there and had subsequently become part of the sandbox. But after closer inspection, you could see the faces of Finnish children pressed against the window, and it appeared that the daycare centre’s yard was probably being protected against them.
But the staff at the daycare centre must have relented because they let the children out 60 seconds after the prime ministers arrived. The children rushed out into the sandbox and surrounded the uneasy-looking operative, who may have felt that they were interfering with his duties. But it appeared that he also got in their way preventing them from building sand castles.
Although both prime ministers would have continued negotiations longer than necessary, the talks culminated in a hot Finnish dinner.
At their news conference, Putin and Vanhanen said they had signed an agreement on leasing the Russian section of the Soviet-era Saimaa Canal, which falls into the Gulf of Finland, for a period of 50 years. Finland was interested in the deal.
Several other agreements, including a deal to develop and build an icebreaker for Russia’s maritime shipping company Sovkomflot to clean up oil spills in the Baltic Sea, were signed. The prime ministers then responded to journalists’ questions. Vladimir Putin discussed the possible influence of the Eurozone crisis on relations between Russia and the European Union in general, and Finland, in particular. He expressed confidence that EU partners would manage to deal with all the problems which were, doubtless, temporary.
“European governments are doing this quite decisively,” Putin noted.
Unlike other European prime ministers, Putin who will have to tackle various problems if the second wave of the crisis hits, is less interested in such decisive actions.
A Finnish journalist asked what the two prime ministers thought about an elderly Russian woman who had come to stay with her daughter and who was now being deported from Finland for lacking an official residence permit.
We do not tackle such non-political issues, the Finnish prime minister replied sharply.
But the Russian prime minister did not agree.
“Our meeting is not over, we will eat dinner, and we have been invited to go fishing where we will have a chance to talk this over. This is about a sick person facing imminent deportation. This issue only seems simple at first glance. Anyone getting a residence permit should also apply for monthly benefits and free healthcare. Such issues are important and involved for any country. This is also a humane issue. (Editor’s note: Putin wanted to indicate that this is not a political issue). If Finnish doctors write that the old woman is unlikely to reach Russia alive, then perhaps an exception should be made. I know that part of the Finnish public agrees with this stance,” Putin said.
Moreover, it appears that Finnish papers have nothing else to write about.
The Finnish prime minister emphatically disagreed with Putin.
“This is an example of issues that will become more frequent because of expanded migration,” he said.
“Begrudging money,” Putin quietly interrupted. After the Finnish prime minister and his translator gave him puzzled looks, he added more loudly: “Begrudging money. I understand everything hinges on the country’s budgetary proceeds. As a person who tackles budgetary issues, I understand this quite well.”
Putin’s comments seemed to mock the Finnish prime minister’s position. Vladimir Putin hinted that the Finnish budget would crumble if the government made an exception for an old Russian woman who could not reach her home country alive if she were deported today. In effect, her healthcare expenses and social benefits would finish off the Finnish budget.
Vanhanen pretended not to notice the Russian prime minister’s remarks and resumed from the point at which he was interrupted.
Vanhanen noted that such problems would only multiply due to the increased mobility of the population. “It is very important that international conventions enter into force. As far as private individuals are concerned, such problems are tackled by the local governments,” Vanhanen said.
The Finnish prime minister added that we should never forget that when such an issue arises it takes on the form of competition between countries. (Editor’s note: This implies that such issues are not resolved by local governments.) “And I want to tell the press that it should not play with people and should not turn them into instruments of its own game,” he said.
The Finnish Prime Minister gave off the impression that he was addressing Vladimir Putin rather than the press. This time Putin did not reply because he evidently realised that he could accomplish more during the fishing session when his partner would be able to speak more openly in the absence of journalists.
At the end of the news conference, Putin commented on the situation in the Gulf of Mexico and the possibility of a similar scenario for the Baltic Sea. He said the planned Nord Stream natural gas offshore pipeline, due to link Russia and Germany, did not present any danger in that respect. He said this entailed gas, rather than oil, deliveries and that any possible leak would not pollute the environment. He emphasised that the pipeline was not an oil well and that modern technology made it possible to instantly shut off the gas flows. (Editor’s note: This time the Finnish prime minister agreed with his Russian counterpart).
He said that Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) should be installed on ships transporting oil in the Baltic Sea so as to avoid possible problems. However, even Russian ships have not been equipped with GLONASS receivers to date.
And, finally, a Finnish journalist wondered whether Putin perceived any threat for Finland’s independence in the fact that Russian clients were now actively buying local real estate and were becoming the country’s second-largest ethnic minority.
“It’s good news for the country’s economy when foreigners buy real estate! This supports the real estate market and creates investment opportunities” Putin exclaimed.
“A country can always regulate these things, but we hope that they will not run counter to the principles of a market economy. As a rule, relations between countries are based on the principle of reciprocity. We’ll treat you the way you treat us. I assure you that Finland has many interests in the Russian Federation” Putin said.
Thus, direct threats were not avoided.
