Finland's President to Take Part in WWII Victory celebrations in Moscow

5 апреля 2005

The Finnish President Tarja Halonen will arrive in Moscow on May 9 to take part in the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Victory over fascism. She made this statement at the meeting with the Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov who heads the Federation Council delegation in Helsinki.

Mironov told Itar-Tass that their talks “were very sincere and confidential”.” Much attention was devoted to “our common history,” the speaker emphasized. In particular, they discussed the Winter War of 1941 (or the Russian-Finnish War). Sergei Mironov and Tarja Halonen were surprized to discover that their fathers both fought in this war. According to the Chairman of the Federation Council, “Russia will always remember the Finnish General Mannerheim’s act of humanity  when he violated Hitler’s order and did not lead the troops to Leningrad. We, Leningraders, remember it,” Mironov pointed out.

The parties also discussed the problem of the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic states – neighbors of Russia and Finland. “These countries call themselves democratic but do not permit Russian-speaking voters to take part even in elections to municipal councils,” Mironov indicated. According to him, the Finnish president “understands the presence of this problem.” Mironov noted that the Baltic states alike Finland enter the EU, and, in his opinion, the “elder EU members” could draw attention of their “younger colleagues” to this problem.

Источник: (Itar-Tass HELSINKI, April 5)