Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (Kok) says that in the spring Finland will evaluate its attitude to the appeal filed by South Africa to the International Court of Justice, in which Israel is accused of genocide.
Foreign minister Elina Valtonen (kok) says that Finland is going to evaluate Filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). and supporting an initiative accusing Israel of genocide.
Finland's possible intervention will be relevant and resolved later in the spring, when the legal process progresses, he says.
Valtonen emphasizes that it is primarily a legal issue, not a political one.
“There is, of course, quite a lot of political passion involved in the Middle East issue,” he says.
“Finland is always in favor of the rule of law, and we strongly support the International Court of Justice and all the work it does: impartially investigate war crimes and possibly even more serious crimes. Finland has always supported that.”
South Africa filed a petition with the International Court of Justice in December demanding an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza. It wants the court to investigate whether Israel committed genocide.
The court will hold hearings related to the case on Thursday and Friday of the current week. Quick guidelines regarding the ongoing military operations in Gaza can be obtained in the near future, but the processing of the whole case is expected to take a long time.
Israel has denied the charges.
The Left Alliance presidential candidate and party chairman Lee Andersson has presented, that Finland could support South Africa's initiative with its own intervention. Finland has acted in the same way in the investigation initiated by Ukraine against Russia in the same court.
Finland submitted to the court in the fall the so-called intervention declaration. In it, it presented its views on how the convention against mass destruction should be interpreted. Finland's interpretations have supported Ukraine's claim.
Valtonen points out that the cases are legally very different.
In the case of Ukraine, it was about the fact that by attacking Ukraine, Russia claimed that Ukraine had committed genocide.
South Africa's appeal, on the other hand, is about Israel being guilty of genocide in the ongoing conflict.
Valtonen does not assess the possibility of genocide or Andersson's interpretation that ethnic cleansing is underway in Gaza.
“Criminal courts are now gathering evidence and going to investigate the matter. This is in no way a political issue. And here it is now very important to give the researchers peace of mind and then move forward in the matter based on that.”
Valtonen sees the importance of South Africa's initiative in, among other things, that the situation is looked at impartially and that a legally valid verdict can be reached on the events in Gaza.
The international court, which is handling the case, is the most important legal body of the UN. It resolves disputes between states. Its judgments cannot be appealed. However, the court has no means of enforcing them.
Valtonen also commented on the criticism he received from within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
STT said on Wednesdayhow a large number of Finnish diplomats expressed their dissatisfaction with Finland's Middle East policy to him in November.
Finnish diplomats point to, among other things, the extraordinary number of dead children and dead UN workers in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel launched its attack on Gaza in response to an October attack by the extremist organization Hamas, which killed between 1,100 and 1,200 people, according to various sources. In addition to this, Hamas took hostages.
of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of OCHA according to figures cited by the Gaza Health Authority, almost 23,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the war began.
The letter sent by 79 diplomats to Valtones can be considered quite exceptional.
Valtonen points out that the group in question is different from the officials who work closely with the issue in the ministry. The line is formed based on the preparation of experts devoted to the subject in question and in cooperation with partner countries.
Valtonen states that Finland's approach to the Middle East has largely remained unchanged over the years. Finland supports the two-state model and the law-based thinking that Finland judges war crimes regardless of their perpetrator.
Read more: Almost 80 employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to Elina Valtonen about their dissatisfaction with Finland's Israel policy
Read more: South Africa accuses Israel of genocide, has taken the case to the International Court of Justice
Read more: Li Andersson: Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza
Read more: Can Russia attack Finland with the same pretext as Ukraine? The task of the three women is to ensure that Finland does not end up like Ukraine
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