Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Sweden, Ranjith P. Jayasooriya who is concurrently accredited to Finland, presenting his credentials to Ms. Tarja Halonen, the President of the Republic of Finland at a ceremony held at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki recently.

During discussions with Jayasooriya, the President showed interest in Sri Lanka's recent political developments.

The Ambassador said the Government of Sri Lanka, after establishing democracy by holding two elections this year, has started massive development projects in the Eastern Province which was under the LTTE for more than 20 years.

He said the security forces are now engaged in humanitarian exercise in the Northern Sri Lanka to liberate innocent Tamil civilians from the clutches of the LTTE and re-establish democracy, rule of law and economic development.

The Finnish President noted that Finland also had difficult periods in history. However, the rulers were able to change Finland into a developed peaceful country within 60 years after the Second World War II by overcoming challenges successfully.