No forces to Darfur, but...

Quoth the PM:

Finland can take part in the peacekeeping operation in Darfur in some special task, said Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in a press conference held in Helsinki on Tuesday. However, he reiterated that Finland would not send actual forces to Darfur. [...]

Vanhanen said at this press conference that Finland is preparing a common UN and EU operation concerning Sudanese refugees in Chad and the Central African Republic.

Vanhanen said that it is possible that Nordic rapid deployment forces would be used in the area. Finland is a participant in those forces.

President Tarja Halonen also held a press conference and had pretty much the same things to say.

The given reason for not sending troops remains that resources are tied up in previous peacekeeping commitments. No doubt there will be some criticism from people who have previously advocated sending forces. However, assuming that the UN finds enough troops to carry out the mission, which seems likely at the moment, the moral argument will lose quite a bit of its weight.