Finland supports efforts to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity

President Sauli Niinistö reiterated Finland’s firm support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

“Finland supports international efforts to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” said Niinistö in his speech at the Crimea Platform in Kyiv on Monday, according to the written statement disclosed the President Office.

The Crimea Platform is an initiative of Ukraine aimed at raising the issue of Crimea in international cooperation and strengthening international coordination on the situation in Crimea.

The establishment of the International Crimea Platform shows the determination of Ukraine, said Niinistö.

“And all of us gathered here today know that for Ukraine this is not just a question of principle, but a hard reality,” he said.

“Reaffirming their objective of promoting better relations among themselves and ensuring conditions in which their people can live in true and lasting peace free from any threat to or attempt against their security,” said the President at the beginning of his speech quoting the opening sentence of the Helsinki Final Act, signed in the Finnish capital in 1975 as described.

At the heart of that document are ten “principles guiding relations between states”, which begin with a familiar list: sovereignty, refraining from the threat or use of force, inviolability of frontiers, and territorial integrity, said Niinistö, adding, “ these principles are an essential foundation of the European security order, and we must be unwavering in defending them.”