Finland provides money, experts for AMM activities<\/p>\n
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Many Indonesians think of two things when they think of Finland.
\nThe first is Nokia cell phones and the other is the signing of
\nthe peace agreement between the government and the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) in Finland's capital Helsinki last month.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the initiative of former Finnish president and the
\nchairman of Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), Martti Ahtisaari,
\nthe Indonesian government and GAM leaders signed a memorandum of
\nunderstanding (MoU) on Aug. 15 to put an end to 30 years of
\nviolence that claimed 15,000 lives in Aceh province.<\/p>\n
Though the Aceh peace dialog was initiated by the Crisis
\nManagement Initiative chairman Ahtisaari, the government of
\nFinland fully supported the initiative.<\/p>\n
\"Our government fully supported Martti Ahtisaari's initiative
\nand provided around 200,000 euros (US$250,000) for the logistics
\nduring the talks,\" Finland's Ambassador to Indonesia Markku
\nNiinioja, who witnessed the signing of the peace agreement in
\nHelsinki, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Niinioja said two officials from Finland's Ministry
\nof Foreign Affairs attended the talks as observers.<\/p>\n
The story does not end there in Helsinki, says Niiniojo, a
\ncareer diplomat who submitted his credentials to president
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri on Aug. 6, 2003.<\/p>\n
Finland announced on the same day the MoU was signed its
\nactive participation in the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM).<\/p>\n
\"By mid-September, when the actual monitoring will begin, the
\ntotal number of Finnish personnel (in AMM) will increase to some
\n35 experts. Finland has also expressed readiness to contribute to
\nthe training of the international monitors prior to the actual
\ndeployment,\" Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja
\nsaid in a press release sent to the Post.<\/p>\n
The AMM will have about 250 people from the European Union and
\nfive Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) states --
\nMalaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei -- who
\nwill collect weapons and monitor the peace deal during its six-
\nmonth mission.<\/p>\n
\"We have decided to contribute 2.2 million euros to the AMM
\noperations in Aceh through the European Commission,\" Niinioja,
\nwho was a peacekeeping coordinator at the foreign affairs
\nministry from 1994 to 1998, said.<\/p>\n
Finland, a small but prosperous Nordic country, also
\ncontributed a huge amount of money to Aceh and other tsunami-
\naffected regions in Asia.<\/p>\n
\"We have donated 20 million euros for humanitarian relief and
\nanother 30 million euros for the reconstruction of tsunami-hit
\nnations, including Indonesia. But the 30 million euros will be
\nchanneled through the Multi-Donor Trust Fund. From this 50
\nmillion euros, Indonesia will have the biggest share,\" Niiniojo,
\nwho has a master's degree in political science, said.<\/p>\n
The 60-year-old diplomat said about 6.5 million euros from
\nFinland's total tsunami aid had been given to agencies like
\nFinnish Church Aid, the International Labor Organization and the
\nFood and Agriculture Organization to spend on specific projects
\nin Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
\"In the future, we may increase our assistance to Aceh if
\nneeded,\" Niiniojo said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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