​​Speaker of Parliament Matti Vanhanen emphasized Europe's unity and solidarity with Ukraine even through difficult times, when he met the Speaker of the German Bundestag Bärbel Bas and German MPs in Berlin on Tuesday, 11 October.

"There is concern in Germany that support for Ukraine and the economic sanctions will decrease as people are worried about coping with their own bills. However, preserving unity and solidarity in Europe is important and everyone's common goal", Vanhanen summed up the mood of the discussions.

The Russian missile attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine that preceded the day of the visit also came up during the meetings.

"The attacks are reprehensible and remind us of Russia's unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. The most important thing is to focus on how we can support Ukraine together," Vanhanen stated.

Finland's long eastern border with Russia was well known to the hosts, and there were extensive discussions about issues related to security and preparedness, including cyber security and a possible increase in the number of refugees in the coming winter. Finland's NATO decision-making process was also of interest, and the Speaker thanked Germany for its strong support for Finland's NATO process and the Bundestag for the swift ratification of membership.​​

Hope that the exchange of visits will resume after the pandemic

The main purpose of the trip was not only to exchange ideas on current issues, but also to strengthen parliamentary relations. The visit had already been planned before the pandemic. The Speaker's delegation included MPs Erkki Tuomioja (Social Democratic Parliamentary Group), Elina Valtonen (National Coalition Party Parliamentary Group) and Tom Packalén (Finns Party Parliamentary Group). In addition to Speaker Bas, the delegation met representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag and the Nordic Friendship Group.

The meetings emphasized the importance of parliamentary relations and cooperation between committees and friendship groups. In the meetings, Vanhanen reiterated the hope that after the corona pandemic the parliaments of Finland and Germany can return to a regular exchange of visits. He invited the Speaker of the Bundestag to Finland.

"Finland and Germany have very good and close relations. There are many fields of cooperation of which especially topical are, for example, foreign and security policy, energy and climate issues, Arctic issues and issues related to innovation and business life", Vanhanen sums up.