President Halonen meets German leaders in Berlin

President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen met Germany’s political leaders while visiting Berlin on Tuesday June 20. Among the topics discussed with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel were Finland’s forthcoming presidency of the EU, EU-Russian relationships, energy policy and other topical EU issues. The two leaders agreed unanimously that Finland and Germany enjoy excellent mutual relationships, one concrete manifestation of this being the decision by Nokia and German Siemens to merge their network business.

President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen and Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel in a joint press conference. Photo: Lehtikuva / AFP Photo

The talks at the lunch given by Federal President Horst Köhler covered current UN issues and globalisation in addition to EU affairs.

While in Berlin President Halonen was also the guest speaker at the annual conference of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

In her keynote speech President Halonen dealt with the future of Europe and the EU's success factors in global competition. Germany's highest politicians and business representatives attended the conference, where the main theme were growth and employment. Previous speakers at the conference, which is arranged every other year, have included President Jacques Chirac of France, President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland and Prime Minister José María Aznar of Spain.

Full text of the speech