In an Yle TV1 interview on Saturday morning, the former Finnish president said she was not displeased with the decision by the British Parliament not to take part in a military strike against Syria.
"I believe that for the British it is still strongly in their minds how Tony Blair, as a loyal friend of the USA, explained the reasons for going [into Iraq], Afterwards, it turn out that those reasons were not airtight," said Halonen.
"As for the Syrian situation, surely no one will say that the use of chemical weapons there, or anywhere else, would be right," she added, also stating that in her opinion, the consequences of a retaliatory strike against the Syrian regime could be grave.
Halonen, who was in office 2000 to 2012, said that the weakness of the United Nations is to be seen in the Syrian situation, "in that there is a desire to create a coalition outside the UN".
"My own suspicion is that banned weapons have been used by both sides. It is wrong to imagine that there are clear fronts there. It is very difficult to know who actually makes decisions. I do not assume that that there is anyone in the al-Assad family business pulling all the strings,” said Halonen.
