Opening words by President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö at the White House in Washington D.C...

Opening words by President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö at the White House in Washington D.C. on 13 May 2016

Mr. President and Mrs. Obama,
We, the Leaders of the five Nordic countries, and our spouses, are grateful to you for inviting us and convening the second US – Nordic Summit.

Thank you for the wonderful welcome. This is a very special occasion.

The Nordics are a family with profound commonality of values and history, and with strong ties of cooperation. With you, Mr. President, we feel we have a kindred spirit.

Gender equality, equal opportunities, and human rights for all, democracy, the rule of law and respect of international law – these are hallmarks of our societies, and an agenda that we share.

Together the Nordics are a superpower – not militarily, but when it comes to innovation, education, competitiveness, sustainable development and clean technologies. Seen together we are the world’s 12th largest economy. Free trade is clearly in our interest.
We also claim superpower status as far as culture and sports are concerned. And - as you see we are champions in modesty too!

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Mr. President,
We are grateful for the leadership the United States has shown in combatting the most existential threat in the world, that is, climate change; and focusing attention to the Arctic, where we are practically neighbors. The Arctic Council can be used also as an instrument of confidence building.

The Nordic countries give high value to multilateral cooperation which you have stressed during your tenure. This is vitally important.

Times are turbulent in many respects. Security threats abound. The situation has become more tense even in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe – our neck of the woods. Strengthening security and stability there is called for, and this includes appropriate dialogue with Russia to enhance transparency and reduce risk.

The Nordic countries are – in many ways - security providers in our own region and Europe but also globally. We shoulder our responsibilities. We seek solutions instead of problems. We are willing and able to continue to cooperate with you in promoting security and stability.
We value highly the US commitment to Europe and to our security.

Finland is proud of the long-standing and firm friendship with the US. It is based on common values and interest, broad contacts between our people and vibrant interaction economically and socially. We are committed to strengthening this partnership even further.

Today I am honored to say to you, on behalf of all the Nordic countries:
In us, the Nordic countries, Mr. President, the Unites States has a solid friend and strong partner. We are willing to work together with the United States to build a better future for the whole mankind.

>nordic_flags.jpg
>has Finnish flag

Finland is not Scandinavian you fucking retard.

Nordic federation when?

Nordic isn't same as Scandinavian.

Nordic = Pohjoismaat
Scandinavia = Skandinavian niemimaa

>nordic
>scandinavia

Holy shit are you takkubot or something, those are two different things.

We are part of the nordic countries, but not scandies.

Fuck, go back to elementary school

Denmark doesn't do federations, faggot.

This is some shit tier trolling.

Apparently well beyond concerns about being branded a socialist, Obama on Friday celebrated the five Nordic nations as examples of reliability, equality, generosity, responsibility, even personal happiness.

As he welcomed the Nordic leaders to the White House, he owned up to thinking perhaps the small havens of social liberalism should take the reins every now and then.

He joked: "Why don't we just put all these small countries in charge for a while?"

The remark in some ways encapsulated a White House summit with the leaders of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark. The discussions covered a slate of issues weighing heavily on the region — including concerns about Russian aggression, managing refugee flows in Europe and fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — but little disagreement among nations that largely see eye-to-eye.

From the State Dining Room, Obama said the leaders spoke about augmenting special operations forces fighting IS in the Middle East. He also hailed Denmark for almost doubling its troop commitment toward the multinational forces assisting Afghanistan.

Three of the five nations are NATO members, including Denmark and Norway, which each have contributed nearly as many troops on the ground in Iraq as Germany. Sweden and Finland are neutral but are participating in the U.S.-led campaign against IS and are, as Obama asserted, helping ensure that sanctions on nearby Russia stay in place until it stops occupying and destabilizing parts of Ukraine.

The White House cast the rare multilateral summit as something of a diplomatic walk in the park compared to recent, more contentious sit-downs in the Middle East, or even in Europe. Where Obama often is tasked with nudging reluctant partners to contribute more to international partnerships, the Nordic leaders, he said, are willing partners who "punch above their weight."

After the meeting, Obama joked there was perhaps "probably too much agreement" to make for much excitement.

Nobody wants in with the swedes.

Obama praised the region's "enormously generous" efforts to alleviate the migrant crisis plaguing Europe, even as it has severely tested the limits of traditional refugee havens Denmark and Sweden.

Sweden, a nation of almost 10 million people, tightened its borders after receiving 160,000 asylum requests last year alone. In the U.S., that would equate to some 5 million prospective immigrants, many from war-ravaged Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. is struggling to meet a target of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees this year.

"It is important for the world to carry this burden alongside them," Obama said.

Friday's meetings and state dinner come during a U.S. political season in which the Nordic countries have made surprising cameos.

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have publicly debated whether Denmark, Sweden and Norway should be models for U.S. policy on worker's rights and paid family leave. Clinton notably dismissed the notion in a debate last year, declaring, "We are not Denmark."

Yet despite their deep-rooted socialist traditions, four of the five Nordic countries are currently run by center-right governments, and Obama noted their commitment to free trade and free markets.

On the Republicans side, standard-bearer Donald Trump has suggested the U.S. should untangle itself from the sort of international partnerships Obama and Nordic allies readily embrace.

Obama's position Friday was unequivocal.

"The world would be more secure and more prosperous if we just had more partners like our Nordic partners," he said, standing alongside President Sauli Niinisto of Finland and Prime Ministers Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson of Iceland; Lars Loekke Rasmussen of Denmark; Stefan Lofven of Sweden; and Erna Solberg of Norway.

As soon as you kick the shitskin out, Mohammed.

But what is the truth behind this speech? Our president is trying his best to convince Obama, and entire world, that we are a superpower, we can handle Russia. We do not need to be liberated.

But is it too late, the US forces have already stepped on our grounds. They tell the rules now. The results of this you can see in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Ukraine. When that day comes, remember Finland as the superpower of memes that just wanted peace.

Never, you made sure of that in 1523 and 1864

We will rule it.

>Sweden thinks they are a super power because they are so tolerant

Russia please teach them a lesson about naivety. pls

Tl;dr?

...

We are a strong and independent superpower, we can have a conversation with Russia, we respect America and want to be friends but please be so kind and stop the warmongering with Russia.

Nei takk!

Who said that iam Swedish i could ahmed aswell

Hows the sheep doing?

California is ranked 6th largest economic power in the world. How does it feel that 1 US state beat you by 6 spots. Feels Good Man

B-but we only wanted to do good

We are an islamic caliphate now, Pekka you will have to join us !

Yellow is such an ugly color on a flag. Do not want. The German flag also looked better when it was red, black and white.

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Our prime minister was a joke at that summit

He was just spouting half assed jokes for 15 minutes that was what he contributed with

>metal bands
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