本周一，芬蘭桑拿協(xié)會(huì)向芬蘭外交部頒發(fā)“蒸汽精神獎(jiǎng)”，肯定了芬蘭外交官向全世界推廣桑拿文化并利用“桑拿外交”協(xié)調(diào)國(guó)際關(guān)系的成就。桑拿協(xié)會(huì)主席表示，駐世界各地的芬蘭外交官都在利用使館內(nèi)的桑拿房開(kāi)展外交活動(dòng)，讓更多人了解到芬蘭文化的實(shí)質(zhì)。桑拿是芬蘭文化的重要組成部分，家庭、社會(huì)甚至政治生活都少不了它。上世紀(jì)70年代，就曾有總統(tǒng)在桑拿房召開(kāi)外交會(huì)議。如今，芬蘭派往不同國(guó)家的維和部隊(duì)也都會(huì)在駐地修建桑拿房。芬蘭外交部一名發(fā)言人表示，桑拿是芬蘭外交活動(dòng)中不可或缺的一部分，桑拿房是建立國(guó)際友誼、商討協(xié)議和理想場(chǎng)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.

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(Agencies)

（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Helen ）