Helsinki, April 6th. - On the afternoon of Tuesday, April the 6th, a fruitful virtual exchange was held between the itinerant Ambassador of Finland in Cuba, H.E. Mr. Pertti Ikonen and the Charge D’Affaires a.i of the Caribbean Island in this capital, Víctor M. Rodríguez Etcheverry, with the aim of commemorating the 92nd Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Both diplomats reviewed the current state and perspectives of bilateral relations between Cuba and Finland. The positive level of dialogue between foreign ministries was highlighted, which constitutes the fundamental mechanism for political exchange between both nations. Rodríguez Etcheverry recalled the productive visit of the First Vice Minister of the Cuban MINREX Marcelino Medina González to Finland in 2019, in the context of the celebrations for the 90th Anniversary, in which parliamentarians, cultural personalities, Finnish businessmen, Foreign Ministry officials participated and other ministries and that was adorned with the presence of the former president (2000-2012) of the Republic of Finland, H.E. Mrs. Tarja Halonen.
The Cuban diplomat took the opportunity to update the Finnish Ambassador on the situation of COVID-19 in Cuba and the successful development of 5 vaccine candidates, achieved under the genocidal United States Blockade against Cuba, which the previous administration intensified in the context of the pandemic. Likewise, he emphasized the positive impact that the phase III studies of the candidates “Abdala” and “Soberana 02” are having, which are expected to be concluded in the coming weeks, with the aim of being able to immunize the entire population of the Major of the Antilles by the end of this year.
Ikonen, for his part, underlined the importance for Finland of the continuous development of cooperation ties between Cuba and the EU in areas of mutual interest. He highlighted the need to continue exploring ways to boost economic-commercial relations between the Cuban and Finnish business community, a task still pending in recent years, and expressed the will to visit Cuba as soon as the epidemiological situation normalizes.
In another context, the friends of Cuba in Finland would be celebrating the advent of a new anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. COVID-19 has forced limitations on face-to-face exchange between peoples and their representatives. However, it has not been able to restrain the political will to continue the development of the traditional ties of friendship and cooperation between the Greater Antilles and the Nordic country, which precisely yesterday, April 5, reached their 92nd birthday enjoying good health.