Finnish President Tarja Halonen will not be backing her Latvian counterpart’s campaign to become the first woman UNSG. Halonen emphasized that regional criteria and experience could not be dismissed simply in favor of gender equality. 

Halonen did not give her support to the only woman candidate in the race for Secretary-General – Latvia’s President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. The Finnish President feels that the next holder of the post should be from Asia.

“Pushing forward a woman is linked with these other factors. In other words, I hope that there would be a geographical dimension, UN experience, and everything that has been called for here”, Halonen said.

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