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DE RUEHHE #0292 1781516
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FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
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C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 000292 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR RPM/GROBBINS 
STATE/FOR EUR/NB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2018 
TAGS: PREL ASEC KGHG ENRG KIPR ETRD FI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR BARRETT MEETS WITH FINNISH STATE 
SECRETARY VOLANEN 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Barbara Barrett for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) During Ambassador Barrett's June 13 courtesy 
call on Risto Volanen, State Secretary in the Prime 
Minister's Office, Volanen explained his duties as Chief- 
of-Staff for the Prime Minister.  He invited Ambassador 
Barrett to bring issues to his attention that require 
emphasis or demand immediate attention.  Volanen also 
described his role as structural coordinator of Finland's 
crisis management system.  The Ambassador expressed 
appreciation for the Embassy's relationship with his 
office and for Finland's efforts as a counterterrorism 
partner.  They agreed that the strong bilateral 
relationship is a well established tradition, and in 
Volanen's words, easy to continue, difficult to make 
better. 
 
¶2. (C) Volanen described the US-NATO presence as a 
"stabilizing factor" in the Baltic.  He stated that there 
have been no successful concrete terrorist efforts in 
Finland; the GOF is aware of and have not underestimated 
the problem.  Volanen deferred deeper OSCE discussions 
and climate and energy discussions to their respective 
ministers, but noted that the Prime Minister is 
personally interested in climate issues and has had the 
ministers study fundamentals in special sessions so that 
they understand the technically and economically 
complicated underlying facts.  Ambassador Barrett raised 
the current pharmaceutical patent issue within the 
context of intellectual property rights, innovation, 
technology and the recent Millennium Prize awarded in 
Finland.  Volanen replied that the Prime Minister had 
taken it under consideration, that he had "no news" but 
would find out where it stood.  (During a June 18 
discussion with the DCM, Volanen said that he had no 
authority to address our concerns, but that he "had 
gotten" the Ambassador's message.) 
 
¶3. (C) Comment: Volanen serves as the prime minister's 
gatekeeper but is rarely in the public eye.  He noted 
that he is politically tied to the fate of Prime Minister 
Vanhanen.  The remark on the US-NATO presence in the 
Baltic is unchanged from a February 2005 Volanen remark 
quoted as part of a Helsingin Sanomat commentary, a 
commentary which suggested that Finland was a "NATO 
stowaway".  End comment. 
 
BARRETT