Finland and Norway waiting for a UN resolution before making national decisions about participation in Middle East forces

In the press conference held on 7 August, Foreign Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, currently visiting Finland, and Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja concentrated on the current situations in the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

Jonas Gahr Støre and Erkki Tuomioja

Both ministers promised that the possibility of Nordic cooperation will be explored in case the countries decide to participate in the international forces to be deployed to the Middle East.

The view the Foreign Ministers of Finland and Norway had about the forces to be deployed to the Middle East was unambiguous: no decisions will be made at this stage. There is an evident need for international presence in the region, but national decisions about participation in the forces will not be made before a UN Security Council resolution. "If troops are to be deployed, the possibility of Nordic cooperation will certainly be explored," Tuomioja said.

According to Tuomioja there will be totally unnecessary victims in the Middle East as long as the hostilities in the area continue. Støre said that Norway is concentrating particularly in the humanitarian situation in the Middle East and mentioned that a high representative of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently in the region. Støre emphasised the importance of getting all the parties of the Middle East crisis around the same negotiation table.

The situation in Sri Lanka Støre described as tragic and very unfortunate. "Even though we fully respect your decision, we feel sorry in Norway that Finland, Sweden and Denmark have decided to withdraw from the Inter-Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission activities," Støre commented. Norway is not planning to leave the country, but continues the dialogue with all parties of the conflict.

As far as the Northern Dimension is concerned, according to the Ministers, Finland and Norway share the same goals and interests. "We welcome the Norwegian contribution to the cooperation of the northern regions," Tuomioja pointed out.

The other topics of discussion during the visit included the EU enlargement and energy questions, among others.