Do we have to let every tree stay up...?

Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as the 12th President of Finland since 2012. Previously he had been a member of the Parliament from 1987 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2011, the leader of the National Coalition Party from 1994 to 2001, the Minister for Finance from 1996 to 2003 and the Speaker of the Parliament from 2007 to 2011.

Quotes

  • Do we have to let every tree stay up and rot in the way that all our forests will turn into impassable thickets that are nicely called virgin forests? And just in order to ensure that every furniture beetle and cockroach can live a diverse and happy life. We the Finns are close to nature but why would we conserve so much that we run out of bread?
    • Niinistö, the leader of the National Coalition Party, criticised the Natura 2000 environmental protection programme on 17 May 1997.[1]
  • It has been thought, correctly and nicely, that everyone who is in peril will be helped. Practically this is implemented in the way that everyone who can say the word "asylum" is allowed to enter Europe and Finland, that word creates a subjective right to cross the border. Even for no proper reason, one gets a full investigation that lasts years, and if the preconditions for an asylum are not met, one can avoid coercive measures and thus stay in the country which he entered wrongly.
    • President Niinistö commented the European refugee crisis while delivering an address to the Parliament of Finland on 3 February 2016.[2]
  • One may oppose immigration. It is an opinion of one's own. But questioning the dignity of an immigrant is unacceptable. (...) I have not seen that these people [the leaders of the Finns Party] who have been convicted exactly of insulting dignity would have shown efficient regretting.

References

  1. ↑ Niinistö haukkui Natura 2000 -ohjelman "Miksi suojelisimme leivän suustamme?" Helsingin Sanomat. 18 May 1997. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Tasavallan presidentti Sauli Niinistön puhe valtiopäivien avajaisissa 3.2.2016 Website of the President of Finland. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
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