- Title: JERUSALEM: Finnish President Tarja Halonen meets Israeli President Shimon Peres
- Date: 13th October 2010
- Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 12, 2010) (REUTERS) FINNISH PRESIDENT TARJA HALONEN ENTERS MEMORIAL HALL AT HOLOCAUST MUSEUM FLAME BURNING
- Embargoed: 28th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA1DK3YQKG3MSAMVAW2ZCXYW6Z2
- Story Text: Finnish President Tarja Halonen on Tuesday (October 12) began a visit to Jerusalem, meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres and paying her respects at the Holocaust museum.
Halonen's visit is part of a four-day trip to the region. Earlier on Tuesday, the Finnish leader met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Jerusalem residence.
Halonen visited the Israeli Holocaust museum of Yad Vashem, where she laid a wreath over a crypt containing ashes of some of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis in World War Two.
During her visit, Halonen will also visit the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah.
On the sidelines of the presidential visit, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Stubb, held a working meeting with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman.
The Israeli foreign minister, head of Netanyahu's biggest coalition partner Yisrael Beiteinu, made headlines in recent days for angering French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos. Israeli media reported that the European ministers were furious over the leaking of the content of a conversation they had with Lieberman, in which the Israeli minister told them to "solve their own problems in Europe before coming to Israel with complaints". Israeli media quoted an Israeli source who said the ministers accused Lieberman of "violating every rule of diplomatic etiquette." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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