VANHANEN rauhoittelee Kuwait Timesin

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/

Finnish premier calls for dialogue, calm


By Velina Nacheva
KUWAIT: Finland's premier visited Kuwait yesterday, urging intercultural dialogue and condemning violence associated with the controversial publication of caricatures depicting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In an exclusive interview with Kuwait Times, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen - who will take over the EU's six-month rotating presidency in July - expressed his bitter feelings of sadness about the 'cartoon crisis'. He explained that not a single newspaper in Finland that reprinted the cartoons defaming the Prophet (PBUH). "I hope that none of the newspapers and media will publish any of these caricatures," he said, adding "it is wrong to hurt and harm others on religious grounds". Finland is home to approximately 20,000 Muslims, the majority of whom are immigrants.
Vanhanen also commented on the controversy affecting fellow Nordic state, Denmark. Muslim states from around the globe, especially in the Middle East, have boycotted Danish products. Protestors in Beirut and Damascus also set fire to Danish embassies. "I hope we can find some sort of a solution and have more dialogue between the different cultures. We cannot accept the violence we have witnessed so far," he said.
The premier, who tagged his one-day call to Kuwait "a political visit", came to congratulate HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on becoming Amir of Kuwait. Vanhanen's meeting with Sheikh Sabah yesterday was not the first meeting between the two. Vanhanen recalled their previous meeting when Sheikh Sabah was Kuwait's prime minister. "He has been in politics for so long, and I am honoured to be here and able to congratulate him. I am convinced we will have a very promising cooperation between our two countries on many levels," he said.
Finland and Kuwait have strong economic ties. Helsinki expects this coming year to see a further expansion of bilateral trade and investment. "I think that 2006 will be much better than the last two years. Moreover, we are looking into improved level of the business between our two countries," said Vanhanen. Finland has been cultivating economic ties with Kuwait for some time. Last year, the premier headed a delegation of 50 business leaders to Kuwait to discuss economic ties between the two countries.
Comparing the level of bilateral relations and trade between both countries in the past two years, Vanhanen said he "has high expectations". "The statistics from last year feature better performance for both sides than the year before. In 2004 Finland-Kuwait trade amounted to 80m euros. Last May's business delegation included representatives from the telecommunications, energy, and construction sectors as well as the fields of elevators, harbour infrastructure and military equipment.
Finland, with 5.2 million people, has multiple strengths which have brought the country global fame. These include telecommunications, data industry, technology, heavy metal industry, steel manufacture and production of weather controlling systems. Such niches could be further explored. "I hope," said the Finnish PM, "that our business relations will remain as fruitful as they are now and will continue to grow."