Remarks by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the dinner hosted by King of Jordan Abdullah II in Amman on 10 October 2010

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On behalf of myself and my spouse I would like to thank Your Majesty for the invitation to visit Your beautiful country. The location of Jordan in a region of ancient civilizations connects layers of the past with the present day.

I am pleased to have the opportunity tomorrow to visit myself your national treasures and world heritage in Petra and its surroundings. Many Finns have already been to your country and seen these sites thanks to increasing tourism.

Your Majesty, I highly appreciate your personal efforts in promoting peace in the region. You have influenced both the ongoing peace process and previous peace initiatives. I respect very much your active role in the Middle East Peace Process.

Jordan has an essential role in the Middle East peace process. As a European Union Member State, Finland strongly supports the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The negotiations should lead to a two-state solution that allows the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable State of Palestine to live side by side in peace and security.

In order to create sustainable peace, the question of Gaza also requires a durable solution. The EU has offered to help in the reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza.

The location and history of your country and the current situation in the Middle East stress the importance of dialogue. As several other countries, Finland, too, has long worked to promote peace in the Middle East. Since the 1950s, Finland has sent more than twenty thousand peacekeepers to the region and taken part in several UN-led peacekeeping operations.

The relations between the European Union and Jordan have strengthened, and are founded on the commonly agreed priorities to promote democracy, human rights, accountability, transparency and justice.

Finland and Jordan have good relations, although the geographical distance between our countries is long. Your visit to Finland in 2006 strengthened our bilateral relations. In future, we could further intensify our collaboration particularly in the fields of economy and trade.

I hope we can also increase our mutual cooperation on international fora. Both Finland and Jordan are strong supporters of the role of the United Nations as the key global forum. Achieving of the Millennium Development Goals and responding to climate change are examples of challenges that can only be addressed through joint action.

I am pleased that the UN General Assembly in September clearly demonstrated that the role of women in building peace, security and development is widely recognised. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. It is important that we now focus on the practical implementation of the objectives of the Resolution.

Your Majesty, Your work to enhance democracy and rule of law is valuable. I would also like to express my appreciation to Queen Rania’s contribution especially in the field of education.

The UN Secretary-General has established the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability to work on a new vision of sustainable growth and well-being. I have the honour of chairing the panel together with President of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma. Sustainable development and economic growth must be in harmony with the environment as well as socially just.
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I wish You and Your spouse and family a prosperous and healthy life, and a peaceful and happy future to Jordan and its people.