US embassy cable - 05HELSINKI906

C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 000906 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/NB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/15/2015 
TAGS: PREL, TU, FI, RU, EUN 
SUBJECT: FINLAND: SUPPORTING TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION PROCESS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 150087 
 
Classified By: POLOFF DAVID ALLEN SCHLAEFER FOR REASONS 
 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1.  (C)  The Government of Finland supports Turkish accession 
to the EU and the start of accession talks in October. 
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari chaired the EU 
Independent Commission on Turkey exploring the question of 
Turkish membership;  the Commission published its report 
earlier this year and recommended an early start to accession 
talks.  Ollie Rehn, the EU's Commissioner for Enlargement, is 
a Finn and strongly supports early initiation of accession 
talks.  Both Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and 
President Tarja Halonen are vocal supporters of Turkish 
membership. 
 
2.  (C)  Halonen addressed the issue as recently as August 11 
when she said that critics who claim Turkey's Islamic roots 
are problematic are "oversimplifying" the issue.  Halonen 
said that while Christian values are important in the EU, 
Christianity "does not have a monopoly on democracy," and 
that Turkey frequently has been considered a part of Europe 
over the past several centuries.  Vanhanen has said that 
Turkish inclusion in the EU could play an important role in 
improving relations between the West and the Islamic world, 
and in stabilizing the general situation in the Middle-east. 
Foreign Minister Tuomioja is also a supporter of Turkish EU 
accession. 
 
3.  (C)  Outside of the GoF, opinions on Turkish accession 
are less sanguine.  The opposition Conservative Party opposes 
accession talks if the outcome is "predetermined," and on 
August 15, the former Chairman of the Conservatives, Ville 
Itala, wrote an op-ed in Finland's major newspaper (Helsingin 
Sanomat) decrying Turkish accession as an example of the EU's 
"Napoleonic megalomania" for expansion.  Some Green Party 
politicians have expressed serious reservations about 
Turkey's human rights practices, particularly discrimination 
toward and the abuse of women. 
 
4.  (C)  Even within the governing Social Democrat 
Party-Center Party coalition, many parliamentarians and 
activists are less than enthusiastic about rapid movement 
toward Turkish accession, especially with Germany's Angela 
Merkel possibly poised to become Chancellor (and, presumably, 
change Germany's stance in intra-EU deliberations).  Some 
strong Finnish supporters of the EU Constitution privately 
blame the Turkish accession question for the failed referenda 
in France and the Netherlands, and have opined that the EU 
pushed the Turkish issue too fast and too soon for European 
citizens.  Opinion polls in Finland are mixed, and many Finns 
seem to share at least a certain degree of skepticism about 
Turkey joining the EU. 
 
5.  (C)  Comment:  Halonen and Vanhanen both personally 
support Turkish accession, and the GoF's official position is 
unlikely to change in the near term.  Outside of senior 
circles, however, "anti-accession" sentiment, or at least a 
desire to slow the process down, has grown in some quarters. 
Finland will probably continue to support Turkish membership 
as long as the consensus to support it remains intact among 
the major EU players, and possibly even if such consensus 
frays; but if Germany changes its official position on 
accession, or if the EU's "accession coalition" begins to 
fall apart, the GoF is unlikely to be a leader on the issue 
and try to keep accession on track.  There is no down side to 
approaching the GoF and expressing our concern over the 
current situation and support for the October round of talks. 
 However, convincing Finland to be a leader within the EU on 
the issue will be more difficult.  Finland will largely 
follow whatever the emerging consensus is in Brussels and 
will steer clear of any significant intra-EU fight over 
Turkey. 
HYATT