Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja: Finland will not automatically align with the EU

An automatic alignment with the EU is not the only guideline for UN and other foreign policy decisions in Finland, says Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. In many cases, the Nordic countries are the natural reference group for Finland, and sometimes it can even be countries of the non-aligned movement, he writes on his web site.

The Middle East peace process, however, is an issue which requires a common position by the EU so that it could have a significant role in the process, says Tuomioja.

The EU unity was not attained when the UN General Assembly voted on the Middle East resolution. Finland voted in favour of the resolution together with a majority of the EU member states. Other Nordic countries abstained.

The resolution, indeed, mentions the excessive use of force by Israel, but not in disproportionate way in comparison with the whole text, says Tuomioja. The resolution calls upon the parties to refrain from use of violence and emphasises the resumption of the peace process.

The Permanent Representative of Finland to the UN decided on the Finnish voting behaviour in New York in accordance with the general instructions received earlier from Helsinki. The fact that the decision, after the situation had changed, was not submitted to Helsinki was a breach of procedure. Procedural guidelines must be followed, says Tuomioja.

On the basis of the facts we have, Finland would not have voted differently, even if the voting behaviour had been cleared with Helsinki.