President Halonen invited Russian President to Finland

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accepted with pleasure an invitation to visit Finland. President of the Republic Tarja Halonen invited Russia’s new President when she met him on Saturday 28 June 2008 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Western Siberia. At their meeting, the Presidents focused on bilateral relations between Finland and Russia. "We got stuck at the border," the Presidents joked after discussing the traffic queues at the eastern border of Finland. The Presidents agreed that a working group should be established to solve the border problems. The Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Paavo Väyrynen, and the Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Elvira Nabiullina, who chair the Finnish–Russian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation, will coordinate the working group.

Presidents Halonen and Medvedev met in Khanty-Mansiysk. Photo: Lehtikuva.

President Halonen also raised the issue of export duties on round wood at the meeting. During the discussion, it became clear to the new Russian President how acute and tangible the problem is for Finland. President Medvedev in turn stressed that Russia wanted the negotiations regarding WTO membership resolved as soon as possible.

Relations between the EU and Russia were also discussed. Both Presidents considered it important that the summit meeting between the EU and Russia on Friday was constructive and fruitful, and that negotiations on a new partnership agreement had now been set into motion.

The meeting between the heads of state was the first since Medvedev became President of Russia in May. President Halonen had previously met him three times. President Halonen described their discussion lasting more than an hour as very good and constructive.


Cooperation between Finno-Ugric peoples

On Saturday the Presidents participated in the opening ceremony of the Fifth World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples held in Khanty-Mansiysk. Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Hungarian President László Sólyom were also present at the event.

On Sunday 29 June, the Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian Presidents attended the World Congress session and were guests together on a cruise on the River Irtysh.

Khanty-Mansiysk is the capital of the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district in Western Siberia. About 40 000 Finno-Ugric Khanty and Mansi people live in the area. There are about 2.7 million Finno-Ugric people in Russia altogether, which is two percent of the country’s population. About 23 million people in the whole world speak Finno-Ugric languages, the languages with the most speakers being Hungarian, Finnish and Estonian.

World Congresses of Finno-Ugric Peoples have been held every four years since 1992. Delegates representing 24 peoples participated in the Congress in Khanty-Mansiysk, a total of about 800 persons. The numeber includes observers, such as representatives and researchers from governments and other authorities and international organizations. The theme of the Congress was "Identity in a Changing World", and the issues considered included culture, language, education, mass communication, ethnic policies and legislation, and demographic, health and family issues.