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INTERVIEW
by Žikica Milošević
Learn From Your Mistakes, Focus on the Future Once the pandemic subsides, we are ready to expand our cooperation H.E. KIMMO LÄHDEVIRTA Ambassador of Finland
e took the opportunity to talk to H.E. Kimmo Lähdevirta, Ambassador of Finland, about the culture, economy, infrastructure and tourism, the possibility of learning from Finnish experiences, as the Estonians and Hungarians did, and of course, the Finnish pop and rock music and Nordic skiing
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How would you assess the relations between Serbia and Finland, both military non-aligned countries, considering that we have had only slight misunderstandings, apart from the Kosovo issue, throughout history? — The relationship between our countries is traditionally very good and continues to be so. There are no unresolved issues between our two countries. We also have, for example, very good cooperation with the Serbian embassy in Helsinki. Our main priority here in Belgrade is to support Serbia on its EU path because we are a strong advocate of EU enlargement. We see it as natural that Western Balkans countries join the Union. This can only happen when membership criteria are met. Also, candidate countries must show strong political commitment, and act upon it. But as you mentioned earlier, just like Serbia, Finland remains a militarily non-aligned country, thus being one of the few countries in the EU in this position. As an EU member country and a close partner of NATO, politically-speaking, we are not neutral anymore, but part of the West. We do hope to develop the relations further when the situation with COVID stabilizes. For example, it would be good to have high-level visits again, and of course, business travel and contacts between citizens as the situation allows. Serbia wants to join the EU but to remain neutral military-wise, as well as be democratic and
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HISTORY CANNOT BE CHANGED, SO THE FOCUS MUST BE ON THE FUTURE AND LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES wealthy. Finland did not have it easy throughout history. You lived next to a superpower that was the USSR and now Russia. This requires a certain amount of wisdom, a calm attitude and equilibristic capabilities. We think we need them here too. What advice can Finland give us? — Indeed, during the Cold War, Finland sort of had to keep its calm. But today, the EU offers us a strong backbone. I would say that being part of the EU has made us freer than ever before because we can travel and work and get deliveries from abroad easier than before. At the same time, European integration contributes to Finland’s security too as we know that we would not be left to defend for ourselves if a crisis would arise. So there are clear benefits of
being offered EU membership. I also think that regional cooperation is something that should not be overlooked. Serbia, as well as the other Western Balkan countries, could perhaps benefit from the Nordic model of economic integration. Good Nordic cooperation has been reflected already, in the setting up of the Nordic Council in 1952, which means that the Nordic countries had free movement of workforce even before the EU was created. Nordic cooperation means that our common voice is stronger on the international scene, while exchanging ideas stimulates sustainable solutions as does sharing best practices. Even though Nordic companies are often direct competitors, we believe fair competition brings benefits in the long run.The West-
ern Balkan countries could follow the example and apply the experiences, while negotiating the EU entry. It's not always easy and Western Balkan countries need to show readiness to resolve the deeply rooted social and political problems in their countries and between them. I really do think that Western orientation is a natural course of action and basic choice for Serbs, also because Serbia is part of Europe and Serbia has already had very close and regularly maintained ties with its European neighbours. Is the mutual trade following in the footsteps of good political relations? What more can we do in the segment of the economy? — The current trend in mutual trading is positive and has maintained momentum even during the COVID pandemic. Of course, there are a lot of untapped potentials which is why we just need to keep on advertising the potential of mutual companies in both countries and establish people-to-people and
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