Vice President Joseph
Biden and Dr. Jill Biden just
arrived in Finland in what is the highest-ranking visit by a U.S. official to
Helsinki since the Clinton administration.
The Bidens, who arrived three hours late due to bad weather
in Washington, were greeted at the tarmac by Bruce Oreck, U.S. ambassador to Finland (and vacuum cleaner magnate); Mika Rossi,
state secretary in the prime minister's office; Ann-Marie Nyroos, foreign policy adviser to the president; Pekka Lintu, the Finnish ambassador to
the United States; Mikko Jokelo,
chief of protocol; and Anja Laisi,
deputy chief of protocol. The Bidens brought granddaughter Finnegan along for
the trip.
On Monday night,
the Bidens will meet with the U.S. embassy staff in Helsinki and tour the city.
The vice president is scheduled to meet with Finnish President Tarja Halonen on Tuesday, and then have a working lunch with
Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi and
greet Speaker of the Parliament Sauli Niinistö.
"The last visit by a U.S. president
or vice president to Finland was President Clinton in March of 1997," said
Biden's top national security advisor Tony
Blinken. "And we thought it was past time to return to acknowledge the
vitality and strength of our relationship."
Clinton visited Helsinki in 1997 for
a
summit on military and economic issues with then Russian President Boris
Yeltsin.
On the agenda for Biden's short
stopover in Finland is the situation in Afghanistan, where Finland has 200
soldiers deployed. Biden also plans to talk about U.S.-EU relations. Finland is
also a leader in
green technologies, always a subject the vice president is keen to discuss.
"It's
really a fitting place to be, because Finland has played a lead role in
promoting global efforts to advance women's issues," Blinken said, noting that
both the Finnish president and prime minister are women.
After
Finland, Biden will
travel to Russia, where World Trade Organization and missile defense will
top the agenda. Following that, he will travel on to Moldova before returning
to Washington later this week.
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