Prime Minister Lipponen: Finland will not give up EU Food Safety Authority


According to Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, Finland will not give up in the question of locating the European Food Safety Authority in Helsinki. The decision was blocked by Italy in the EU Summit in Laeken on Saturday although practically all other member countries supported Helsinki. In Lipponen´s opinion, the Finnish way of promoting the case in a business like manner has been succesful. He hoped that especially the big member countries would keep to the basic principles of the Union and bear their responsibility at least to the same extense as the smaller member countries do, Lipponen said in a radio interview on Sunday, 16 December.

He also said that Finland is willling to participate in a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, but the operation has to be prepared by the Government and supported by the Parliament.


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