Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (L) is the sexiest man in Finland, French President Jacques Chirac (R) said in off-the-cuff remarks recorded by television crews at a Europe-Asia summit in Helsinki.
              

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen is the sexiest man in Finland, French President Jacques Chirac said in off-the-cuff remarks recorded by television crews at a Europe-Asia summit in Helsinki.

"Let me introduce you to the sexiest man in Finland," Chirac joked to Spain's prime minister when he spotted the 51-year-old Vanhanen entering a meeting room. "You can believe it because it's in all the papers, it's in the press."

Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero smiled at the remark.

Last year, Chirac caused much offence in Finland and in Britain when he was quoted by a French paper as saying that "after Finland, that is the country (Britain) where you eat the worst".

Last week, the French magazine L'Express reported that Chirac had described the Finnish EU presidency's handling of the Lebanon crisis in July and August as "useless and incompetent".

The president's office denied this. Last year it also denied that Chirac had made the disparaging remark about Finnish and British cuisine.

在芬兰首都赫尔辛基召开的欧亚峰会期间，法国总统雅克·希拉克在一次闲聊中称赞芬兰总理马蒂·范哈宁是芬兰最性感的男人，这句话被电视台的工作人员录了下来。

当希拉克看见51岁的范哈宁走进会议室，便向身旁的西班牙总理介绍：“我要向您介绍芬兰最性感的男人，这么说可一点也不夸张，芬兰的报纸、媒体都这样评价他。”

听到希拉克的这番话，西班牙总理路易斯·罗德里格斯·萨帕特罗笑了笑。

去年，据法国一家报纸报道，希拉克说“除了芬兰，就数英国的饭菜最难吃”，这话可把芬兰人和英国人给得罪了。

上周，法国杂志《快报》[文章来源：中国大学在线]透露，希拉克评价欧盟轮值主席范哈宁在处理七八月份的黎以冲突事件上“无用、无能”。

但希拉克总统办公室对此表示否认。去年，对于希拉克贬损芬兰和英国菜肴一事，希拉克方面同样给予了否认。