Valtio

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Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2008)

**Valtio**
Motto	Onhan meillä! ("Yes, we have one")
National anthem	Valtiomme ("Our country")
Official language	Finnish
Head of State	Ari Peltonen
Form of government	Monarchy
Size	50 m²
Population	2
Declaration of independence	26th of August 2006
Currency	Euro
Capital city	Turku
Location	Posio, Finland

Valtio is an imaginary micronation started by Ari Peltonen. The development of this micronation project has been regularly reported by newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and Radio Helsinki since October 13, 2006. The territory of Valtio is located 8 kilometres north of Posio town centre, in Lapland, northern Finland. It has no legal standing.^[1]

Valtio was founded on August 26, 2006. The government of Valtio consists of Head of state Ari Peltonen, minister of culture Katja Ståhl, foreign minister Alexander Stubb, defence minister Eva Wahlström and treasurer Jani Halme. Stubb, however, currently is also the Finnish foreign minister.

Valtio has no armed forces. According to Peltonen, the defence forces of Valtio have only one member: Defence minister Wahlström.

Valtio has applied for EU-membership and has a written constitution.

The coat of arms of Valtio is a shield with golden crown guarded by two winged boars. The flag is black and white, symbolising the whiteness of snow and the darkness of Arctic areas. Citizenship is open and can be given according to applications. According to Peltonen, Valtio has received applications of citizenship from Estonia and USA.

In October 2006, Valtio received two new citizens who had applied for citizenship. During November 10, 2006, head of state Peltonen left a written notice to Finland, seeking recognisance for the independence of Valtio. The notice was received in the presidential office, but left unanswered.

In November 24, the city manager of Turku accepted Ari Peltonen's proposal for Turku to become the capital city of Valtio. (Note: such political decisions in fact are within the powers of the city council, not the manager.)

On June 19, 2007, the Finnish Defence Forces newspaper Ruotuväki sent an expedition to take back the territory claimed by Valtio. ^[1]

On August 26 2007, Ari Peltonen visited the embassies of Sweden, USA, UK, Estonia, France and Brazil to invite the ambassadors into the first independence day celebrations of Valtio. Only the ambassadors of the United States of America, Sweden and the United Kingdom refused to meet Peltonen.

[edit] Valtio and Eurovision song contest

In February 2007, Ari Peltonen tried to get Valtio into the Eurovision Song Contest. The application was received by EBU, but was rejected. Despite this, a song was selected to represent Valtio by a vote organized by Radio Helsinki.

[edit] Politics

According to the newspaper Ruotuväki, the foreign policy of Valtio is ambitious and power-hungry. Ari Peltonen has threatened to officially recognise Taiwan in order to cause a diplomatic crisis between Valtio and the People's Republic of China. The government of Valtio does not agree on the foreign policy and some of the members of the government claim that they are ignorant of the plans made by Peltonen.