Free Republic

THE HAGUE, March 24./ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian crisis has not adversely affected bilateral relations between Finland and Russia, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto said in The Hague on Monday. Helsinki traditionally maintained friendly relations with Moscow, Niinisto said adding he intended to continue bilateral meetings with Russia if it was in Finland’s interests, though last week's EU summit recommended that EU members cancel such meetings. Niinisto also pointed out the importance of continued negotiations to avert a deeper crisis in Ukraine.

The No. 2 diplomat at the Iranian Embassy in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, has resigned in protest of the hard-line government in Tehran, Finland's national news agency reported Saturday. For more than a month before his resignation this week, former charge d'affaires Hossein Alizadeh hadn't been at the embassy, the FNB news agency said. Alizadeh, a veteran diplomat who reportedly had worked for the Iranian Foreign Ministry for more than 20 years, said he quit because he believed last year's presidential election in Iran was unfair and marked by cheating. He also declared his support for Iran's opposition "green movement."