Middle East | Foreign Minister Valtonen on the attacks in Lebanon: The occurrence of civilian casualties is more than regrettable and against the law

Foreign minister Elina Valtonen (kok) says that in the situation in the Middle East, the most important thing now is that all parties approach the situation with moderation.

“It is in no one’s interest that the conflict and war in the region expands,” Valtonen said at a virtual press conference on Thursday evening.

Valtonen also commented on the attacks with explosive pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon last week.

For example of the New York Times according to Israel was behind the attacks on the devices of members of the extremist organization Hezbollah.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the shots Thursday night as a declaration of war and terrorism. He claimed that Israel’s goal was to kill more than 4,000 Hezbollah fighters in minutes by detonating their communication devices by remote control.

According to Valtonen, Finland’s position is clear: In all warfare, civilian casualties must be avoided and everything must be done within the framework of international humanitarian law.

“In these attacks that have been carried out in recent days, there have also been civilian casualties, which is of course more than regrettable and against the law,” Valtonen said at the press conference.

According to Valtonen, it is absolutely essential that a cease-fire agreement be reached in Gaza and the hostages be freed.

“So many things in the Middle East are connected to each other, and specifically now to this situation in Gaza.”

Valtonen told when asked that the attacks on communication devices have no effect on Finland’s arms trade with Israel. Finland’s latest major purchase from Israel has been the Daavidin linko anti-aircraft missile system.

“Of course, together with our partner and allied countries, we have views on where to buy weapons, but at least these recent attacks have not affected this in any way,” Valtonen said.

“On the other hand, when it comes to arms exports, we also have an arms export line and policy. For example, it is absolutely essential that Finland does not deliver weapons to the country if it can be suspected that the weapons will be used for human rights violations.”

Foreign minister Valtonen spoke to the media from Austria, where he participated in a meeting of the Standing Committee of the European Security and Cooperation Organization OSCE.

Next year, Finland will hold the presidency of the organization in a difficult position for the second time in history.

Valtonen stated that the preparations for the presidency are now very different from the previous presidency in 2008, but also different from three years ago, when Finland was elected as the organization’s chairman for 2025.

“Of course, the key reason is that Russia has meanwhile started a full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine,” Valtonen said.

From Valtos was asked at the press conference, by what yardstick would Finland evaluate its success as a presiding country after next year. Is it enough that the organization is still standing?

“Actually, the fact that the organization is up and running is no small goal,” Valtonen answered.

He drew attention to the OSCE’s grassroots activities in matters that may seem obvious in Finland.

“As a very concrete matter: if there was no OSCE, how would we organize rampart surveillance, which, however, everyone considers to be a fundamental part of democracy.”

Valtonen also emphasized that the OSCE is currently the only functioning organization in Europe in which Russia is also involved.

“Despite the fact that there is real opposition to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, this is a forum where we can also hear Russia’s views.”