Non-alignment military policy is practical choice: PM

Prime Minister Antti Rinne said on Monday the Finnish policy of being militarily non-aligned is not an ideological line, but rather a practical policy. And, accordingly, a possible change of that policy would also be a practical choice.

Rinne made the remarks while addressing the annual gathering of Finnish ambassadors and heads of mission in Helsinki.

Rinne said Finland keeps evaluating the changes in its security environment, and takes independent decisions on the impact of the changes on the Finnish attitude.

The prime minister repeated the definition that Finland is "a militarily non-aligned member of the European Union" and has "the credible ability to defend its territory."

Rinne said his government will strongly develop security and defense policy cooperation with Sweden, and develop defense cooperation with the European Union (EU) in playing its role of the presidency country of the Council of the EU.

The Finnish partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is getting tighter and Finland is building bilateral defense arrangements in Europe and with the United States, Rinne added.

On Finland's relation with Russia, he said it is now "as good as it can be in the present environment," adding that functioning relations with Russia are important to Finland.

Finland's policy towards Russia is based on the EU policy towards Russia and Finland adheres to the EU principles, Rinne said. He added that "on account of the dialogue we maintain with Russia, we can also discuss difficult issues."

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be visiting Finland for talks with President Sauli Niinistö later this week.

With regard to U.S.-China relations, Rinne said: "Our message in Europe is that we have understood the possibilities and especially the challenges of this development."