芬蘭外交部“桑拿外交”獲肯定

本週一，芬蘭桑拿協會向芬蘭外交部頒發“蒸汽精神獎”，肯定了芬蘭外交官向全世界推廣桑拿文化並利用“桑拿外交”協調國際關係的成就。桑拿協會主席表示，駐世界各地的芬蘭外交官都在利用使館內的桑拿房開展外交活動，讓更多人瞭解到芬蘭文化的實質。桑拿是芬蘭文化的重要組成部分，家庭、社會甚至政治生活都少不了它。上世紀70年代，就曾有總統在桑拿房召開外交會議。如今，芬蘭派往不同國家的維和部隊也都會在駐地修建桑拿房。芬蘭外交部一名發言人表示，桑拿是芬蘭外交活動中不可或缺的一部分，桑拿房是建立國際友誼、商討協議和理想場所。

The humble wood-fired sauna is a cornerstone of Finnish culture.

Finland's foreign ministry on Monday won the Steam Spirit Prize for promoting sauna culture abroad, organisers said, hailing Finnish diplomats for using saunas to help forge international relations.

"The prize is given for a deed, a person or an event promoting sauna culture. The recipient meets all these criteria," Sauna Society chairman Ben Grass said in a statement.

"Through diplomacy, the ministry has made a fundamental contribution to increasing awareness about the essence of being Finnish," he said, hailing the way Finnish diplomats around the world use embassy saunas as a place for diplomatic "deeds and events".

The humble wood-fired sauna is a cornerstone of Finnish culture.

It is not merely a way to wash but a place that was the centre of stories and superstition, and which is still a key aspect of family, social and even political life in the Nordic country.

In the 1970s, for instance, President Urho Kekkonen was known to hold diplomatic meetings in his sauna, while today's Finnish peacekeepers build saunas in every camp they are deployed, even in places like Chad and Afghanistan.

"The sauna is an inseparable element of Finnish diplomacy throughout the world... Nearly all Finnish embassies have saunas, where relations with local movers and shakers are cultivated," Pertti Torstila, a state secretary at the foreign ministry, said in the statement.

"The sauna is an ideal place for forging friendships, making agreements and building peace," he added.