Niinistö calls for bigger role of UN, EU

President Sauli Niinistö on Thursday took his pledge in front of the Finnish parliament, beginning his second six-year term as president.

In his inaugural speech, Niinistö deplored that only few of the international crises in the past decade have been solved.

"The chances of traditional peace processes have diminished as geopolitical interests have been stronger than the desire for peace," he said.

To improve the situation, Niinistö called for more attention to the role of the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). The UN needs to regain its position as the forum of people, and the EU should be also a security community with a unified voice to be heard, he said.

The president stressed that Finland has an active role in this effort. "We are not a mere observer," he said.

"The West means not only the United States and NATO, but also the European Union; and the East means not only Russia, but also China," Niinistö added.

He singled out national defense as the first pillar of Finnish security policy: "But our security is not based only on arms. We also need profound national unity, will and preparedness."

Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela addressed the president on behalf of the parliament.

Upon returning from parliament, Niinistö and his spouse Jenni Haukio appeared briefly on the balcony of the presidential palace. Due to the inclement weather with heavy snowfall, only a handful of citizens gathered at the square to see them.

At a reception in the presidential palace in the afternoon, Niinistö met with over 400 representatives of the civil service, the judicial system, the military and representatives of religious organizations and universities.

The dean of the diplomatic corps accredited in Helsinki, Ambassador Ricardo Alvarado of Nicaragua, congratulated the president on behalf of the diplomatic corps.

In his congratulations on behalf of the government, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä noted the joint management of foreign policy by the government and the president had worked well.