Meeting between FM Peres and the Prime Minister of Finland

(Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Bureau)
September 9, 2001

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met Friday night (September 7) in Como, Italy with the Prime Minister of Finland, Paavo Lipponen. The Finnish PM expressed regret for the unfortunate language that his Foreign Minister had used against Israel. He stated that the language is a departure from Finland's evenhanded policy and does not reflect Finland's position.

Prime Minister Lipponen requested that the subject be removed from the agenda of Finnish-Israeli relations. He noted that, according to the President of Finland, the Finnish Foreign Minister's choice of words was poor.

The Finnish PM stated further that what happened and is happening in Durban is a tragic error, and he invited Peres to visit Finland and to present Israel's position before the Finnish public.