"I had always regarded language as more a question of utility than identity. Therefore, I promptly noted that all the (EU) meetings should be conducted in English and French. My older colleagues laughed. Later I understood why. On the second day of the Finnish presidency (of the EU) a German delegation refused to participate in an informal ministerial meeting because no German interpretation had been arranged."
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Alexander Stubb, The naked truth and other stories about Finns and Europeans, WSOY 2009 p 13, 31.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Stubb
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Alexander Stubb
Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (born 1 April 1968 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician and the current President of Finland. He was Prime Minister 2014–2015, Minister for Foreign Affairs 2008–2011 and a Member of the European Parliament with the European People's Party (EPP) 2004–2008.
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