US embassy cable - 05HELSINKI15

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000015 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AEMR, EAID, PGOV, FI, Humanitarian Assistance 
SUBJECT: FINNISH AID IN SUPPORT OF TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORT 
 
REF: STATE 00959 
 
1. (SBU) The Government of Finland is about to increase its 
total disaster assistance donation to 12 million euros.  GoF 
donations have increased over the past week to keep slightly 
ahead of private donations.  End Summary 
 
2. (U) Embassy Helsinki made subject demarche immediately on 
the morning of January 4, 2005. 
 
3. (U) On December 27, 2004, the GoF made its first 
contribution of 500,000 euros through the Finnish Red Cross 
to the IFRC.  On December 29, as the scope of the disaster 
became better known, and private donations grew, the GoF 
added another 2 million euros: one million to the WFP, 
500,000 to UNICEF and 500,000 to the WHO.  On December 31, 
the GoF gave another two million euros to the IFRC, through 
the Finnish Red Cross.  All of the current 4.5 million euros 
have been disbursed. 
 
4. (U) The GoF has already set aside another 5.5 million 
euros in expectation of a UN aid request on Thursday, 
January 6.  Officials expect to allocate and disburse the 
amount as soon as the requests are in. 
 
5. (SBU) Although not yet announced, MFA sources tell us 
that the GoF will increase the current total of 10 million 
euros to 12 million euros by the end of the week. 
 
6. (U) Donations by the Finnish public stand at just below 
11 million euros as of the morning of January 4, 2005, with 
the amount constantly rising.  The bulk of this amount goes 
to the Finnish Red Cross (8.6 million) and Finnish Church 
Aid - the Lutheran Church's aid organization (1.1 million). 
Finnish UNICEF has received 750,000, Finnish Save the 
Children Fund 250,000, and two smaller organizations received 
another 120,000. 
 
7. (SBU) While sympathetic to the tsunami relief effort, 
MFA humanitarian assistance officials nervously watch as 
the aid figure grows to 12 million euros, now more than 
one quarter of Finland's total humanitarian assistance 
budget for 2005. 
 
8. (U) Statistical note: Although Finland is a relatively 
developed country, it is tiny.  Finnish GDP is less than 
1.5 percent of the U.S. GDP. 
 
 
WEISBERG