Finnish president says Nordic defense cooperation not against anyone

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto Monday claimed the Nordic defense cooperation was not meant to threaten anyone, reported Finnish News Agency STT-Lehtikuva.

The comment was made as a response to a statement that the Russian foreign ministry released on Sunday saying that the joint call for increased Nordic defense cooperation was a cause for concern.

The Russian statement followed a Nordic ministerial declaration disclosed on the Norwegian daily Aftenposten on Thursday calling for deepened defense cooperation among Nordic countries to respond to what they described as a "Russian threat."

"It is a misinterpretation" to think that Nordic co-operation somehow opposes Russia, Niinisto was quoted by STT-Lehtikuva as saying.

"It is not justified to give rise to the impression that the background of the long-standing Nordic co-operation would be emphatically a Russian threat," Niinisto added.

He said the aim of the cooperation was to support and strengthen the stability and security of the region.

"I have made it clear to the Russians that we are developing cooperation in the Nordic countries, the EU and NATO partnership, i.e. we will build our defenses in every possible way as everyone else is doing," said Niinisto.

Niinisto said he was planning to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin on issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the general political situation in particular.

Earlier on Sunday, Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb denied that Finland's defense cooperation would be directed against Russia. On his part, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja stated there were no plans to change Finland's policy with regard to its eastern neighbor. Endit