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AMMAN — Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Tuesday praised the "splendid" relations between Finland and Jordan, emphasizing shared views on numerous regional and international issues and a commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation.
During an interview with The Jordan Times, Valtonen noted that both Helsinki and Amman are advancing ties grounded in "full respect for international law and the multilateral system."
“Finland has strong capabilities in defense, cyber security, and connectivity, and Jordan is also building in these areas. We are looking forward to expanding this cooperation,” she noted.
She cited data security and networking as key areas of partnership, noting that Finnish tech giant Nokia offers secure connectivity solutions vital for both civilian and military applications.
“Connectivity and data security are also critical at the economic level, and we are happy to partner with Jordan in this field,” she added.
Touching on education, Valtonen said that while there is existing cooperation, it remains small compared to other sectors. She expressed Finland’s willingness to share its expertise, especially in educational technology and artificial intelligence.
“A hundred years ago Finland was one of the poorest countries in Europe and now it is one of the richest [in the continent]. We have always invested in the human capital of people and equal opportunity of everyone, man and woman alike. We have also many solutions in the edutech sector and in artificial intelligence.”
On the situation in Gaza, Finland’s top diplomat said that her country and the European Union both ‘do not accept the blockade of aid into the war-torn Strip.
“We cannot accept the blockade of aid not just Finland but the European Union. We are together [with Jordan] the strongest and largest provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza and obviously we want to make sure that the aid reaches the people, which has not been the case. So we are working towards this goal.”
The European Union will review its wide-ranging trade and cooperation agreement with Israel over its widened offensive in Gaza and its failure to fully lift a two-month aid blockade.
The decision came on Tuesday after 17 of the bloc's 27 foreign ministers backed the move, tabled earlier this month by the Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp.
It means the EU executive will now launch a review to establish whether Israel has violated its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a broad-ranging pact that defines the trading and diplomatic relations between both sides.
The minister cited the EU’s decision to review trade and cooperation agreement with Israel, given the latter’s violations of human rights, as per the measures the bloc is taking to press for lifting the two-month aid blockade.
“So we are working towards this goal and some dimensions of human rights have been clearly violated by Israel as we speak and the European Union decided last week to review Article 2 of the association agreement,” she said.“This is what we are working on.”
Valtonen said, “What we think is needed now is a ceasefire, release of hostages, the aid to reach the people fully and then, parallel to this, there needs to be a process for peace which can only be on the basis of the two-state model.”
On Syria, the minister said that her country has not a diplomatic mission in Damascus yet, but it is waiting how the circumstances would evolve there.
“We do appreciate the fall of the Assad regime which was very far away from granting liberties and civilian rights. With the new regime, there is an opening for a stable future, we do not want to see the rise of any extremism, but the harmony of all the minorities in the country. Europe has lifted sanctions to allow economic recovery.”