Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen on visa-free travel, Finnish summer houses and investment in Russia.
The new Finnish prime minister, Jyrki Katainen, starts his official visit to Russia today. On the eve of his arrival he told Kommersant correspondent Pavel Sheremet what issues should be resolved in what are called problem-free Russian-Finnish relations.
Katainen was born in 1971. In 1999 he was elected deputy to parliament. In 2001 he occupied the position of deputy chairman of the National Coalition Party and became the chairman in 2004. Since 2005 Katainen has been vice president of the European People’s Party (EPP). In 2007 he was appointed finance minister. In 2008 The Financial Times recognised him as Europe’s best finance minister. On June 22, 2011, the Finnish parliament elected him prime minister.
Question: What issues are you going to discuss with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin?
Answer: There are no special issues on the agenda. I think we’ll focus on the condition of the global economy and opportunities for cooperation. As for the problems, we’ll probably discuss visa procedures and see what we can do to make it easier for our people to visit each other.
Q: Is Finland interested in who will be the next Russian president – Vladimir Putin or Dmitry Medvedev?
A: Everything that happens in Russia is important to Finland. We have good relations with both politicians. When Putin was president we had very good relations. He knows Finland well. I’d even say he’s a specialist on Finland. Both he and Medvedev were born in St Petersburg. This is an important point. When Medvedev became president, our good relationship continued. Maybe, we have good relations with Russian leaders owing to our geographic proximity. Our experience of cooperation with both has been absolutely positive.
Q: Several years ago you were responsible for links between United Russia and your party. Why were you chosen for this mission?
A: I met with Konstantin Kosachyov at an EPP congress and he told me he was interested in cooperation with our party. I’ve always studied the Russian economy and culture and gladly accepted his proposal of cooperation. At a seminar in Finland, we discussed political values. Later on United Russia conducted a similar seminar at the regional level. We understand, of course, that we have differences, but I appreciate our dialogue and cooperation with United Russia. This is a practical approach to cooperation because the EPP has ties with other Russian parties as well.
Q: There are no serious issues between our countries, but there are issues between Finnish fathers and Russian mothers over children. How should we approach this?
A: We proceed from the premise that a legal state must protect people from political interference and resolve all issues based on legislation and in accordance with international commitments. In this context, Finland welcomes Russia’s decision to join the Hague Convention on Child Abduction. This convention will provide a common foundation for resolving conflicts. This issue is strictly legal rather than intergovernmental.
Q: The purchase of property in Russia’s border regions has worried many Finns since Russia has banned this by law. Recently, you received an explanation from Russia about this. Is Finland satisfied with it?
A: There is no unequivocal answer to this question, and we still have to study it more thoroughly. More and more Finns are willing to buy summer houses in Russia’s adjacent regions. They are within easy reach and nature there is beautiful. This is also good for these Russian regions because it attracts capital and creates more jobs. Another important issue is what will happen with the property that Finns purchased before the appearance of the new law in Russia. We hope this law will not affect the property rights of these people.
Q: Finland issues almost a million visas to Russians per year. What prevents the transition to visa-free travel?
A: The visa issue is within the competence of the European Union (EU). Finland is an advocate of visa-free travel with Russia. We want to draft a common plan with Russia to achieve this goal. This is primarily a security issue and the need to authenticate travel documents. This is more of a technical rather than political issue. We must know who crosses the border. We are going to return to the issue of visa-free travel once again before the end of this year, at a meeting of the EU Council. Finland will actively promote progress towards visa-free travel.
There are two positive moments. Multi-entry visas account for 80% of all visas issued by Finland to Russian citizens. Russia has unilaterally cancelled visas for cruises between St Petersburg and Helsinki. Needless to say, we’d like Russia to issue more multiple-entry visas to our citizens.
Q: Finnish companies have started investing in forest development in South America. Is it because they don’t see good prospects in Russia anymore?
A: We see prospects for this industry in Russia, too. It has vast forest reserves close to us. Our forest industry understands that Russia has a growing market for its goods. Finnish companies have invested 8 billion euros in Russia, including almost 1 billion euros in the forest industry.