Transcript:

Jyrki Katainen (via interpreter): Mr Prime Minister, I was very pleased to get to know you better. Last week we met on the sidelines of the summit in Laos, but this time we had more time to discuss various issues, global events and so on…

I have expressed to my colleague my satisfaction with the status of Finnish-Russian relations and cooperation. First, our countries have very close political relations… That said we stand to gain even more from the integration of our societies, our countries. We expect the number of Russian visitors to Finland to reach 3.5-4 million this year. There are about 2,100 Russian students in Finland. 

Our investment cooperation is very active. Finnish companies are investing in the Russian economy and vice versa. All in all, about 600 Finnish companies are operating in Russia. We are also implementing a programme for mutual visits by our MPs, a new initiative that I made last year. Cultural exchanges are also very intensive. Russian music groups and conductors perform in Finland and their Finnish colleagues go to Russia.

Russia is a growing market next door to Finland. There is one more area of cooperation that unites us – the Baltic Sea. We have good prospects in the timber complex – both in research and the timber industry. The potential for enhancing our cooperation here is also great.

Russia’s WTO membership is facilitating trade and commercial relations in general. Today we have touched on some problems that, as far as I understand, are also in the process of being resolved.

We are also cooperating in the Arctic. Russia and Finland have enormous potential and are highly competent in this sphere, not to mention shipbuilding. These are concrete areas of cooperation. Mr Medvedev, I’m very glad that you have found the time to visit Finland.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to begin by thanking my colleague, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, for the invitation to make this brief but very substantive visit.

The Prime Minister has described what we have been doing recently and cited many interesting figures. I will cite two more. I lived in Leningrad, in St Petersburg, for a long time and I could never imagine that one day 10 million people and four million cars would be crossing the Russian-Finnish border every year. These figures illustrate our diverse cooperation, both human and economic.

I have also told my colleague that our relations have not been greatly affected by the global financial instability, which is good. Our trade was very substantial both last year and the year before that. This year it will be about $20 billion.

That said, trade is not everything. Importantly, we are making rapid progress in investment cooperation. We have spoken about power engineering today, where we have very large projects like Fortum and TGK-1. We have discussed new projects today, for instance, shipbuilding projects. We are very interested in developing projects in high technology and techno-parks. We are looking forward to meeting our Finnish partners and have already done much in Skolkovo. By the way, I have invited Mr Katainen to visit Skolkovo and see what it is like (it is still under construction but already worth seeing). So we have vast spheres of cooperation and our prospects are very good. We still have a busy programme for today – we will take part in a Forestry Forum and visit the university. I’m also due to meet with the President of Finland.

We have discussed a range of issues, including the European Union – how should we (I’m referring to Russia) build closer cooperation with it? We have also spoken about issues related to Russia’s accession to the WTO. We have discussed the popular issue of protecting the rights of families and children. This is a high-profile issue in our two countries. So, more or less every issue was touched upon. We will be pleased to answer any other questions. Thank you very much once again.

Question (via interpreter): A question for Mr Medvedev. We came to know you as a President who was active in social media and had his own blog… We understand that you are so well versed in this issue that you could teach a lesson to our Prime Minister. I understand you have more than 8,000 likes on Facebook, right?

Dmitry Medvedev: I have some 700,000 likes on Facebook or close to it.

Remark: And our Prime Minister has about 5,000.

Dmitry Medvedev: I’m always ready to share with friends.

Question: Being active in social media you also encouraged your compatriots to follow suit. Since the elections to the State Duma, members of the opposition have been active online, expressing their opinions and ideas. Here’s my question – you have encouraged Russian citizens to go online and use social media, but what is your attitude to this now that they are using social media as a platform to criticise the powers that be, in particular President Putin and his policy? This is a question for Mr Medvedev. And Mr Katainen, what have you said about cases in which children are placed in state custody in Finland?

Dmitry Medvedev: What can I say? Let them criticise both President Putin and Prime Minister Medvedev. I think this is what democracy is all about. This is absolutely normal and will continue to be in social media. I believe my colleague and other officials are also being criticised in social media in Finland. This is nothing special. This is normal.

Jyrki Katainen: My colleague Mr Medvedev observed earlier that the only technological difference between us is brand of a mobile phone – he prefers Apple and mine is Nokia.

Dmitry Medvedev: No surprise there.  

Jyrki Katainen: But now we have found one more difference between us – you are active on your blog and I don’t do this.

That said, today we have found one more thing we have in common – we wear the same brand of watch.

Dmitry Medvedev: Yes, and you can even name the brand.

Jyrki Katainen: Our watches are Finnish-made.

Yes, indeed, we have discussed the unpleasant problems regarding families. I have described our position, which is based on several points. First, in considering these issues, Finland adheres to international agreements that it is party to, primarily the Hague Conventions.

Second, we must respect the principles of a law-based state. The supremacy of law means that issues related to individual families and people should not be discussed in public, the media or at the political level. Such issues must be discussed by the relevant authorities and departments.

Third, we must develop cooperation and contacts between the relevant authorities of our two countries. We have already given the Russian side a list of our authorised bodies and expect to receive a similar list from it in the near future. No matter how our authorities cooperate – meet, call or email – it is important to make sure that they represent the relevant departments.

These tough family-related issues or cases by no means have a negative impact on our political relations, but they are a problem on a human level. This is why I’m worried what ideas Russian people receive about Finland and Finns, about our society, from the information reported by the Russian media. A fairly strange picture is taking shape here, and many ordinary people consider it unfair to Finland and Finns because this information is not entirely authentic. This is why I’d like to suggest to representatives of the Russian media that they… Yes, and concerning the image of Finland, I wanted to say… This is, of course, creating a negative image of Finland, but this is not the only thing that we are worried about. Therefore, I’d like to suggest that representatives of the Russian media should contact Finnish authorities and departments for authentic information in the event that such unpleasant cases emerge in the future, in order to provide more honest coverage of Finnish life and our system.

Dmitry Medvedev: It only remains for me to address the Finnish media and tell them what I think on this score. We have indeed discussed this issue, and in much detail. I said in a recent interview that the most unpleasant thing about such cases is not the coverage as such, but its impact on the fate of children. I think the competent bodies of Finland and Russia should look into this. Everything else depends on you. I won’t explain anything to the media – you know everything yourselves.

Kiitos ("thank you" in Finnish)! Thank you.

Jyrki Katainen: Spasibo (“thank you” in Russian).