NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg visited Finland

Prime Minister Stubb met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Prime Minister’s official residence on Thursday 5 March. The meeting focused on future development of the partnership cooperation between Finland and NATO, common points in the security policy agendas of the EU and NATO, and the topical situations in Ukraine and Russia.

"I was delighted to receive Secretary General Stoltenberg in Finland so soon, only a few months after he took office in NATO. In our discussions, there were several topics of mutual interest. We both reaffirmed our commitment to the development of Finland-NATO partnership cooperation in which we already have a long history behind us", Prime Minister Stubb says.

NATO reformed its partnership policy last year at the Wales Summit. Finland is among the most active and advanced partner countries in terms of both the extent and depth of its cooperation with NATO.

"International security and defence policy cooperation is crucial to Finland – it complements our own defence in an important way. And it is NATO partnership that offers the best opportunities and concrete added value to the development of our national defence", Prime Minister Stubb says.

"It is our continued interest to participate in NATO exercises and new forms of cooperation, for example in the area of cyber security", Stubb says. 

Other topics discussed included the Ukraine conflict, the current developments in Russia, and NATO's presence in the Baltic Sea area.

During his visit in Finland, Secretary General Stoltenberg had also meetings with Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja, Minister of Defence Carl Haglund and Speaker of Parliament Eero Heinäluoma together with representatives of the parliamentary Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees.

Inquiries: Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen, Special Adviser (International Affairs), tel. +358 40 7483 867, Prime Minister's Office