Finnish president inaugurated, calls for bigger role of UN, EU

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto (R) shakes hands with Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela during the inauguration of the president in the Finnish parliament in Helsinki, capital of Finland, on Feb. 1, 2018 (Photo: Xinhua)

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on January 1 took his pledge in front of the Finnish parliament, beginning his second six-year term as president.

In his inaugural speech, Niinisto deplored that only few of the international crises in the past decade have been solved.

"The chances of traditional peace processes have diminished as geopolitical interests have been stronger than the desire for peace," he said.

To improve the situation, Niinisto called for more attention to the role of the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). The UN needs to regain its position as the forum of people, and the EU should be also a security community with a unified voice to be heard, he said.

The president stressed that Finland has an active role in this effort. "We are not a mere observer," he said.

"The West means not only the United States and NATO, but also the European Union; and the East means not only Russia, but also China," Niinisto added.

He singled out national defence as the first pillar of Finnish security policy: "But our security is not based only on arms. We also need profound national unity, will and preparedness."

Xinhua

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