Prime Minister Katainen and Vice President Biden met in Washington
During the second day of his visit to the United States, Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen met the US Vice President Joe Biden in the White House. Katainen and Biden discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Syria, the European economic crisis and arctic cooperation.
"During the discussion, Vice President Biden pointed out several times that, if judged merely by the country's size, Finland is punching above its weight in the international arena. The United States places great importance to the fact that Finland creates more security than it consumes. Vice President Biden also thanked Finland for its determination and commitment to the reconstruction process in Afghanistan," said Prime Minister Katainen.
"The Vice President's message for Finland was clear: there are no problems whatsoever as concerns our bilateral relations. As an excellent example of this, the United States sold to Finland a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) system earlier this year. The JASSM can be integrated with Hornet fighters and before us, only Australia has managed to purchase the system" said Katainen.
Prime Minister Katainen and Vice President Biden also discussed opportunities for improved cooperation to answer the challenges faced by the arctic regions due to global warming.
"Finland has strong interest in promoting arctic cooperation with the United States – environmental technology and shipbuilding industry are examples of potential fields of cooperation. Our future discussions will focus on these and other areas of Finland’s innovative expertise," said Prime Minister Katainen.
Inquiries: Kari Mokko, Director of Government Communications, tel. +358 40 751 3281, Prime Minister's Office