ROME-Interior Minister Annamaria Cancellieri has met with Finnish counterpart Päivi Räsänen to exchange ideas on church-state relations and the role of religion in the process of integration of immigrants, officials said. She was accompanied by a delegation, together with the Finnish Ambassador in Italy, Mr Petri Tuomi-Nikula.

During the meeting, the two delegations also discussed about  asylum and immigration policies and safety priority interest issues were addressed .

 Mrs Räsänen was in Rome to lecture at the Rome seat of the representation of Finland to the Vatican , Villa Lante on the Janiculum  hill on the occasion of the celebrative colloquium about the 70^thanniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Finland and the Holy See, in summer of 1942.

 Päivi Räsänen, physician and writer, a member of the Finnish Parliament since 1995, is the minister of Interior within the 72nd Finnish Government which has been in office from June 2011, representing the Christian Democrat party, of which she has been president since 2004.

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