Foreign policy President’s Office corrects American newspaper coverage – Niinistö did not speak of himself as a “border interpreter” between East and West

Policy|Foreign policy

Influential the American newspaper The New York Times published over the weekend extensive personal matter On the President of the Republic of Finland Sauli from Niinistö.

Read more: Niinistö also commented on Putin’s change to The New York Times

Before that, Niinistö had already appeared in other major international media, such as the German In Der Spiegel and in Swedish Dagens in Nyheter.

With the threat of war, Ukraine is interested in Niinistö’s views because he has a working relationship with the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The New York Times says that Niinistö describes himself in a way that can be considered different from Finland’s foreign policy. The article states that Niinistö sees himself not only as a messenger between East and West, but also as a “borderland interpreter”.

Finland’s line has been to position itself clearly in the West, as part of the EU.

Of the Republic The President’s Office was contacted by Helsingin Sanomat after a discussion on social media.

Niinistö himself did not want to leave the story of an American newspaper in public, but gave Helsingin Sanomat a multi-page interview.

It turns out that Niinistö does not describe himself as an interpreter on the border between West and East in an interview. Niinistö told the magazine that he wants to “help” and “improve the discussion” with his own actions and also to help the parties understand each other’s thinking.

In the interview, he also downplayed the importance of his role and wondered about the description of him used as a Putin whisperer.

In an interview, the president feels to his advantage that as a representative of a small country, he is not intimidating in the eyes of interlocutors.