Translation

SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND MR MARTTI AHTISAARI
AT A BANQUET HOSTED BY THEIR MAJESTIES KING JUAN CARLOS AND QUEEN SOFIA
AT THE ROYAL PALACE IN MADRID ON 1.2.1999

Please permit me to express my thanks for the cordial reception that we have received and your kind words. We feel that here we are among good friends.

The history of diplomatic relations between Finland and Spain is almost as old as Finnish independence. Spain was among the first countries to recognise us as an independent state. That was in January 1918, barely a month after our declaration of independence. Relations between Finland and Spain have been developing well ever since.

Our peoples have been closely following each other’s fates throughout that period. The Spanish Civil War was a shocking event also for us Finns. We appreciated the sympathy that the Spaniards showed us during our own wars between 1939 and 1945.

Your Majesty’s first official visit to Finland in summer 1975, made in your capacity as Crown Prince, was an important milestone in the recent history of our relations. It took place at a time when the rigid tableaux of the Cold War were beginning to change thanks to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The states in our continent, Finland and Spain among them, were then embarking on a search for new forms of cooperation.

I know that my distinguished predecessors Urho Kekkonen and Mauno Koivisto appreciated their visits to Spain and tried to make their respective contributions to promoting cooperation between our countries. Your Majesties made a state visit to Finland in 1989. I now take the opportunity to invite you to visit us again.

Democracy has been consolidated in Spain during your reign. In this, Your Majesty’s personal contribution has been central. At the same time, Spain has assumed an active and visible role in international peace efforts.

It was at the CSCE review conference in Madrid in early 1980 that security in Europe was coupled with the implementation of human rights. The process that had begun in Helsinki in 1975 was thereby decisively complemented. Since then, Madrid has on numerous occasions been the scene of important international negotiations.

Relations between Finland and Spain have developed consistently and dynamically, a trend that our shared membership of the European Union has only accentuated. Spain held the EU Presidency during Finland’s first year of membership. The Madrid summit and the whole of the successful Spanish Presidency serve us as an excellent example as we prepare for our own term in the Presidency this year. The Helsinki summit next December will point the way to the solutions that will need to be made in the beginning of the new millennium.

Europe is now reshaping itself. The change of millennium requires all states in our continent to make a special effort to develop genuine cooperation. The Union’s internal and external actions must be made more effective. We need political will: it is up to us to decide what kind of Union we want to pass on to posterity.

Our membership of the European Union has further strengthened our international position. Finland shares values, interests and obligations with the other member states. Solidarity between member states increases security in the Union as a whole. Finland wants the EU to act with greater determination in pursuing our common foreign and security policy. That presupposes a strengthening of Europe’s capacity for crisis management.

A restructuring NATO has an important stability-enhancing role in Europe. Finland is an active participant in the Partnership for Peace programme. Next April, we shall be attending the Euro-Atlantic summit organised in Washington in conjunction with the celebrations marking the Alliance’s 50^th anniversary.

Increasing social, economic and political stability in the Mediterranean region strengthens the entire Union. All members support cooperation with the Mediterranean countries. Equally successful cooperation is needed also in northern Europe. The Union’s Dimensions, both Southern and Northern, are matters in which all members have a stake.

Since modern economic cooperation is much more than trade in goods and services, it is important that corporate investment flows in both directions increase. Spain’s role as the EU’s bridge to Latin America and the Mediterranean region as well as Finland’s corresponding status in the Baltic and as a neighbour of Russia are major incentives to invest in both of our countries.

Membership of the EU has brought Finland and Spain very much closer to each other. Cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres has significantly increased. The volume of trade between us has been constantly growing and its structure has been diversifying at a gratifying pace. Since no actual trade barriers remain between our countries, it is important that companies now increase their direct contacts and seek new sectors in which to cooperate.

Spain has won the hearts of Finnish travellers. Year after year, your country’s beautiful nature, the sun and especially friendly people have drawn my compatriots to visit you. More than 400,000 Finns visited Spain last year, nearly a tenth of our total population. It is nice to note that Spaniards are likewise showing a growing interest in Finland and that the number going there has doubled in just a few years.

Cultural cooperation is another sector in which we can record new achievements. Interest in Spanish has been constantly growing in Finland, especially among young people. In 1987, Finland became the first Nordic country to open a cultural institute of its own in Madrid.

Two significant centenaries were marked last year: the death of the writer, intellectual and first Spanish consul in Helsinki Angel Ganivet, and the birth of the great Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Numerous seminars, lectures and exhibitions in their honour have been arranged both in Spain and in Finland. An exhibition on the theme of Alvar Aalto’s cityscapes opens here in Madrid tomorrow. Ganivet’s book "Cartas Finlandesas" was the first more extensive Spanish written account of Finland and her people. Although its text is based on the author’s experiences in Helsinki in 1896-1897, many of his insights and observations remain very apposite. He noted, for example, that: "Here the telephone is nearly as common as cooking utensils. It is an extra person in any conversation." A century later, Finland has the world’s highest density of mobile phones and is a leader in telecommunications generally.

Spain has again become a central actor in European cooperation and her economic and social development provides an excellent example of the benefits that this can provide.

The geographical distance between our countries and their different languages and cultural traditions are not an obstacle to Finland and Spain constantly growing closer to each other. That is because we share a world of values: we base our political and social systems on Western democracy, justice and respect for human rights.

This visit shows that the friendship between our countries is valued in Spain. I attach great importance to that.

I now propose a toast to Your Majesties King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, to the happiness and prosperity of Spain and to friendship between our countries.