HS analysis|The tp-utt headed by the president on Friday dealt with the internal conflicts of the government, but the results were rather small, writes HS’s political reporter Marko Junkkari.
Hocking and partition. They are the means by which Petteri Orpon On Friday, the (kok) government tried to calm down the controversies regarding Finland’s foreign policy line.
And the president of the republic Alexander Stubb that the prime minister held press conferences on Friday after the meeting of the ministerial committee for foreign and security policy, or the so-called tp-utva. The meeting is chaired by the president.
The Tp-utva meeting lasted no less than two and a half hours and was “discussive”, as President Stubb characterized it in his in the info.
The main message of the press conferences was expected: Finland’s foreign policy line is “crystal clear”, and there are no views within the government that differ from the big picture.
Orphan by the government agrees on the value base of Finland’s foreign policy, i.e. democracy, the rule of law, human rights and equality.
Although there is a consensus on the big line, however Orpo admitted that “there are differences in emphasis on individual issues in the government”.
This certainly did not come as a surprise to anyone, because the representatives of the governing parties have been fighting each other in public with such enthusiasm in recent weeks.
This can be considered truly exceptional.
In general, Finland’s foreign policy has aimed for unanimity. Especially the foreign policy disagreements within the government have not been discussed in this way in public.
Dispute started a few weeks ago when MTV News reported the minister Ville Tavion (ps) about the policy that Finland does not participate in the equality coalition related to the reconstruction of Ukraine. The purpose of the alliance is also to promote the issue of sexual and gender minorities.
Tavio’s policy aroused strong criticism in the opposition and also in the government, because Finland’s long-term human rights policy also includes the promotion and defense of the rights of gender and sexual minorities. This is stated, for example, in the latest foreign and security policy in the report.
The uproar got more rounds when President Stubb criticized his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York a couple of weeks ago in the interview the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the president had not been informed about Tavio’s decision, which had already been made in June.
“I hope that in the future we will not see similar mistakes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the president is not informed about matters that belong to the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, but are related to our foreign and security policy,” said Stubb.
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The solution was – surprise surprise – to improve the flow of information.
Of these The information flow problems raised by Stubb were discussed at the tp-utva meeting on Friday.
The solution was – surprise surprise – to improve the flow of information.
Prime Minister Orpo reminded in the info that a single minister makes hundreds of individual decisions. According to Orpo, however, it is the responsibility of the minister and the ministry to inform the president, i.e. to “approve” those decisions that may have some effect on Finland’s foreign and security policy.
In addition to hooking up, another solution presented by the government on Friday was the so-called “partition”.
Orphan the government announced that it intends to include “a section on the promotion of equality and equality” in the second part of the reconstruction plan for Ukraine, which is currently being prepared.
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Tavio and the Minister of Social Security responsible for equality are responsible for the preparation of the section Sanni Grahn-Laasonen (cook).
In the opposition, for example, based on Thursday’s question hour in the parliament, the impression had arisen that the government might even reverse Tavio’s earlier decision in the tp-utva and announce that Finland will still participate in the equality alliance.
Among the governing parties, Rkp in particular would have hoped for the decision to be revoked. Reversal of Tavio’s decision would certainly have suited the coalition as well.
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The government did not promise that the things in the section would in any way be concretely implemented.
Not so visited anyway. The government did not reverse the decision. Orpo justified this by saying that the government needs to look ahead.
Instead, the government said that it would make a section that also takes equality issues into account. At this point, however, it did not promise that the things in the section would in any way be concretely realized.
The government announced the matter cryptically: “At the next Ukrainian reconstruction conference, Finland will evaluate the initiatives that come up in accordance with these principles and participate in their preparation.”
The section will therefore be made, but the policies to support Ukraine’s gender and sexual minorities will be evaluated and decided upon later.
Second the question that has shaken the government in recent weeks concerns the possible recognition of Palestine.
Christian and some fundamental Finnish MPs have harshly criticized the fact that the foreign minister Elina Valtonen Led by (kok), Finland voted a couple of weeks ago in the UN General Assembly for a resolution demanding that Israel end the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories within a year.
In addition, Foreign Minister Valtonen stated in the general assembly at a press conference that “it is clear that Finland will recognize the state of Palestine”. Valtonen added that he himself would be ready to recognize the state of Palestine on a priority basis.
For example, the member of parliament for basic Finns Kaisa Garedewin by Valtonen’s line was “wrong” and “incomprehensible”.
On Friday chairman of the Christian Democrats Sari Essayah left a dissenting opinion in the tp-utva protocol regarding Finland’s UN voting decision.
“I have expressed in the discussion that I cannot agree with the UN resolution and I recorded it in the minutes”, Essayah comment Ilta-Sanom.
President Stubb said on Friday that Finland’s line regarding the recognition of Palestine has not changed from before.
According to Stubb, Finland will eventually recognize the state of Palestine as part of a comprehensive peaceful solution. According to Orpo, the recognition of Palestine is currently not on the horizon.
And according to Stubb, the recognition of Palestine was not even discussed in Friday’s tp-utt. Instead, the discussion was more general about the ongoing worsening of the Middle East crisis.
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Attempts to sweep disagreements out of the political debate of the day do not seem to succeed.
Sdp’s chairman Antti Lindtman criticize on Friday, strongly that the government did not cancel Tavio’s previous decision. Lindtman called the government’s policy a “fig leaf” with which it tries to cover the political uproar that is tearing the government apart.
According to Lindtman, it seems that the Basic Finns did get a back-breaking victory over the coalition in the internal twists of the government.
“The coalition does not have enough power to ensure that Finland’s foreign policy also adheres to equality when supporting Ukraine,” said Lindtman.
The government’s attempts to sweep their differences out of the political debate of the day therefore do not seem to be successful.
Sdp announced on Friday that it intends to submit a motion of no confidence to Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Tavio and also to the entire government.
Therefore, the Tavio matter will continue to be discussed next week. As is probably also the handling of the Palestine issue.
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