News from Berlin

‘Working Together for a Better Europe’: German Minister of State Michael Roth Meets Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja in Helsinki

April 17th, 2014
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News from Berlin – On April 16th, Michael Roth, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, along with his colleague Alexander Stubb met with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja in Helsinki to discuss the German-Finish partnership within the EU framework.

Following the talks, he visited a vocational training centre and gave a speech at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs. Roth highlighted, along with Stubb and Tuomioja, the close and friendly cooperation between Germany and Finland on European issues. All three agreed that it was essential that Europe comes out of the crisis stronger than before.

Roth also said that Finland was not only a strong and reliable partner, but also often served as an example for the rest of Europe. He added that the education system, gender equality and inclusive welfare policy have been acknowledged and admired in many other countries.

In his speech Roth also underlined the European common goal of decreasing youth unemployment, stating ‘Tackling youth unemployment is a top priority (…) Finland was a frontrunner in introducing a youth guarantee scheme to avoid leaving anyone behind’. He closed by emphasising the importance of the Finnish-German cooperation in building a stronger Europe and in winning the trust of the public back, ‘Peace, prosperity and social justice are the trademarks of Europe’.

News from Berlin – Berlin Global