Stockholm/Helsinki - Nordic leaders Monday hailed the late
Russian president Boris Yeltsin's contributions in turning events
during the end of the Soviet Union.
Finnish President Tarja Halonen said on an official visit to
Qatar, Yeltsin played a key role in the democratic development of
Russia.
She 'held President Yeltsin's work in high regard' as he helped
forge good ties with Finland and expressed her condolences to the
Russian people.
In an interview with Finnish broadcaster MTV former Finnish
president Martti Ahtisaari (1994-2000), who was visiting Jakarta,
said Yeltsin's relations with Finland 'were good and correct'.
'The memory of Boris Yeltsin is that of a man who played a key role
in ending the Soviet dictatorship,' Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik
Reinfeldt said, noting that Yeltsin helped Russia to take 'its first
steps towards democracy.'
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was notified on
the start of a visit to several countries in Latin America, was 'sad'
to hear of Yeltsin's death.
'We honour the former Russian president who at a critical phase
remained a steadfast champion for a democratic Russia,' Rasmussen
stated.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Yeltsin was 'without
doubt, for all the human weaknesses no-one is free of, one the great
men of our times.'
'When everything was uncertain in the collapsing Soviet Union, he
set a new course by abolishing the Soviet Union and recognizing the
independence of the three Baltic states,' Bildt added.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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