Russia and Finland Discuss Gas Pipeline, Political Issues

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev came to Finland on March 20, meeting his Finnish counterpart, President Halonen, to discuss the controversial Nord Stream natural gas pipeline project and other issues.
Russia and Finland Discuss Gas Pipeline, Political Issues
4/22/2009
Updated:
4/24/2009
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Russian President Dmitry Medvedev came to Finland on March 20, meeting his Finnish counterpart, President Halonen, to discuss the controversial Nord Stream natural gas pipeline project and other issues.

Russia plans to propose to its partners a basic document on energy cooperation. President Halonen emphasised that the environmental impact of the planned pipeline, from Viborg in Russia through the Baltic Sea to Greifswald in Germany, is an important consideration for the Finns. 

“For Finns, the pipeline is specifically an ecological question. If the pipeline can be built safely from an ecological point of view, then it would be a good solution in our view. Work on clearing this up remains unfinished,” he said at a joint press conference on Monday afternoon.

President Medvedev said that discussions on the pipeline project had proceeded in a constructive spirit. He promised that all environmental questions would be taken into consideration.

Due to ecological factors, the 1200 kilometre pipeline has met with resistance in Finland; Estonia and Sweden are also against it.

Border problems were also taken up during discussion at the press conference. President Medvedev was asked why agreements reached with Russia are often not followed by Russian officials, and if there is an information bottleneck between the President and government ministries. The President responded by asking for specific examples, pledging action if any were given.

President Halonen alo mentioned congestion at the border.  “About ten years ago I crossed the border between Russia and Finland as an ordinary citizen myself, and it was not easy, or pleasant, as it took a long time,” she said.

Medvedev conceded that solutions should be sought for the challenges. 

Medvedev also put a great emphasis on Finnish-Russian trade relations. He said he hoped that trade between Finland and Russia should stay at a high level in spite of the economic crisis, noting that trade between the two countries is worth 22 billion dollars.