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Putin Slams NATO on Finnish Visit

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HELSINKI - President Vladimir Putin lashed out Monday at plans to expand NATO eastwards and said only a "sick mind" could believe Moscow poses an aggressive threat to European security.

"I underline that we don't see any objective reason for the Baltic states to become members of NATO,'' Putin, on his first state visit to Finland, told a news conference with Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen.

"We are not happy about this. We think it is a mistake,'' he stressed.

Putin said that expanding the Western alliance would not solve a single problem in Europe's current security environment.

"Only in a sick imagination could one think that some aggressive elements could ... emerge from Russia,'' he said.

Putin's remarks came on the second day of his two-day visit to non-aligned Finland, which is not seeking to join NATO, but insists the door to the Western alliance must remain open and that states have the right to decide whether to join.

The former Soviet Baltic republics, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, all hope to join the transatlantic alliance but Russia vehemently opposes enlargement of NATO to its doorstep and into the area of the former Soviet Union.

Halonen said she believed the Baltic states would eventually become full members of NATO.

Putin praised Finland's example to its Baltic neighbors. "Finland has in a magnificent way shown the benefits of neutrality over the decades,'' he said.

Finland is the only European Union member bordering Russia.

Earlier in the day, a handful of demonstrators held placards outside the Presidential Palace demanding "Russia out of Finland'' and "Return our territory.''

They referred to the area of Karelia, a part of pre-war Finland, annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.

No major bilateral agreement was signed Monday, partly because a key investment treaty was not yet ready.

Putin also held talks with Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen and Finnish business leaders Monday.

Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, arrived at Turku Airport, 160 kilometers west of Helsinki, on Sunday and were whisked off to Kultaranta - President Halonen's summer residence - for talks.

Putin's visit is mainly a courtesy call at the invitation of Halonen, who visited Moscow in June 2000, a few months after she became president.

However, Putin highlighted the changed relationship between Russia and Finland on Monday by placing a wreath at the tomb of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, the field marshal who led Finland's vastly outnumbered forces against the Red Army from 1939 to 1944.

The Finns, remembered for the Winter War and their white-clad "ghost army'' on skis, put up unexpectedly tough resistance.

However, they were finally defeated and were forced to cede 11 percent of their territory - mainly parts of Karelia and a southeastern region near St. Petersburg - from which 400,000 people were evacuated.

But the country was never occupied nor subjugated to communism like most of Eastern Europe. During the Cold War, Helsinki walked a tightrope between the hostile East and West blocs in uneasy friendship with Moscow.

While Finns may no longer fear an attack, they still eye the joint 1,260-kilometer border with some trepidation - concerned primarily about illegal immigration and pollution.

Within the EU, Helsinki has spearheaded a so-called Northern Dimension, aiming to draw northern Russian regions into energy, infrastructure and other projects to bridge the gap in living standards between Russia and the West.

Trade between Finland and Russia has developed in recent years, and Finnish exports are recovering from the collapse caused by Russia's 1998 economic crisis.

Among the main economic issues in Putin's visit were plans for a $3 billion pipeline to pump up to 20 billion cubic meters per year of Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea to Western Europe.

Sources said that Norilsk Nickel would also sign a deal with Finnish metals firm Outokumpu on building a $130 million to $140 million ore concentrator plant for Norilsk.

Two other agreements were signed, one on health cooperation and one on competition and anti-monopoly policy.

In the health area, Finland is concerned about control of contagious diseases, including AIDS.

But talks on an investment-protection agreement, underway for two years, were not completed in time for the visit, Finnish officials said. Finland says the agreement is overdue, but was not satisfied with a draft Russia drew up last spring.

The draft treaty produced by Russia offered insufficient investor protection, Finnish officials said. The Finns have also said that the draft treaty lacked some of the main principles of the World Trade Organization. In July, Russia asked Finland for support for its bid to join the WTO.

Earlier this week, Putin - a frequent visitor to Finland before becoming president - told Finnish YLE television in Moscow that he had fond memories of the country.

The Putins returned to Moscow on Monday night.

- AP, Reuters

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