Indonesia's Retno Meets Finland President Stubb, Asks for Support for Palestine

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi paid a courtesy call to President of Finland Alexander Stubb in Helsinki on Thursday, June 13. During the meeting, she asked Finland to support and recognize the state of Palestine. 

“Finland says that its recognition [of Palestine] is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’, meaning that its recognition will be announced in due course,” Retno said in an online press statement from Helsinki.

Retno said in the meeting that Indonesia was closely monitoring Finland's position, including President Stubb's statement that Finland would officially recognize Palestine “at some point in the future”.

“I assert that it would be better to announce it soon because the recognition of Palestine is a major contribution to the creation of peace and will also contribute to the implementation of the two-state solution,” Retno remarked.

Retno and President Stubb also discussed the importance of advocating for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Indonesia and Finland align on endorsing a ceasefire and a two-state solution to resolve the long-standing conflict between Palestine and Israel.

“We agree on the significance of executing UN Security Council Resolution 2735 at the earliest. We hope that all countries will leverage their influence to urge the conflicting parties to adopt the resolution,” Retno added.

Earlier, in a meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, Retno stressed the importance of recognizing the Palestinian state as a pivotal step towards a two-state solution. “I also expressed my appreciation for Finland's humanitarian assistance, including financial support to UNRWA. Finland had suspended its financial support to UNRWA but has now resumed it,” said Retno.

Several countries have recently recognized Palestine, including Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia. With this additional backing, 145 of the 193 UN member states have acknowledged the sovereignty of Palestine.

ANTARA

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