ADDRESS GIVEN BY PRESIDENT MARTTI AHTISAARI

TO THE DANISH FOREIGN POLICY SOCIETY IN COPENHAGEN, SEPTEMBER 7, 1994

Finland at the crossroads

I should like to thank you for the honour of addressing the

Danish Foreign Policy Society. We live in a time of

fast and unexpected change. Research and debate

are means towards managing this process. Your Society

is known widely for the solid contribution it makes to

this work. I should like to wish the Danish Foreign Policy Society every success.

I am speaking at a time when Finland faces a historic

choice. In something over a month, we shall be holding an

advisory referendum on membership of the European Union.

This referendum will mark the climax of a long process of Finland's cooperation with the rest of Europe. A

century of development will have reached an interim phase.

I am reminded of the trilogy Here Under the North Star by

the great Finnish writer Väinö Linna. The hero is the

landless tenant farmer Jussi Koskela. In late summer 1884

Jussi Koskela broke ground in a Finnish bog for a farm of

his own; this act symbolized the beginning of the final

stage - land reform and the rise of the labour movement - in the process that eventually led Finland to independence and allowed us to find a place among the free states of Europe.

Our independence and national freedom cost us a high price

in human sacrifice during the Second World War. In

strengthening our overall international standing in

cooperation with other European countries, we are also

repaying our debt of honour to the victims of the war and to our veterans.

I feel sure that the Finnish nation is fully aware of the

significance of the choice ahead. European integration has

evolved by force of circumstances, as a way of preventing a

return to power politics and of responding to the challenge

of global economic competition. In many issues, the nation-states of Europe are too weak units to fight for their own interests. In view of this fact, economic and political integration has become a way of tackling matters connected with competitiveness, reducing unemployment, agricultural adjustment and development, and cooperative security in Europe jointly within the European Union.

Now, the Finns have reached the final stretch in debating Union membership. Only an open exchange of views on the fundamental issues will help the voter weighing up his stand. At this point, then, it gives me particularly great pleasure to be making a State visit to Denmark, which already has two decades' experience of membership, first of the Community and now of the European Union. You can provide the honest answers we need to many vexing questions.

Finland is a large country geographically, and one important element in our strength is a rural population with confidence in the future. There is widespread belief in the Finnish countryside, too, that Union membership is the right step to take in the longer term, as long as the short-term adjustments that membership calls for can be made in mutual understanding between the Finnish Government and the European Union.

At the moment, however, there is still some uncertainty in

agriculture and forestry and among farmers about what

membership will mean in the short term, as negotiations with the EU Commission must still resolve the interpretation of a number of details. We hope that these points will be settled rapidly.

It is clear that Union membership is the safer option in the longer term, also for the farming population. All the

farmers in Europe will have to adjust to the new competitive situation created as a result of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or GATT. The EU's common agricultural policy makes sufficient allowance for distinctive national features.

Danish membership of the EC, and more recently the EU, is

now an unquestioned benefit and resource for the rest of

Scandinavia. Denmark has acted as a link between the other

Nordic countries and the European Community later Union. It has successfully prepared the ground for Finland and other

Nordic membership applicants. We appreciate this.

In the last few years, all the Nordic countries have

experienced difficult economic times. Finland, in

particular, has suffered from mass unemployment, caused by

changes both in the international environment and, more

importantly, within Finland itself. We Finns are, however,

in rather basic agreement that the Nordic social model,

based on equality, social accountability and open democracy, will on the whole remain a good model for the future, too, despite all the problems. It is a model that also allows us to play a part in broader integration on our continent.

I expect that relations between Finland and Denmark in the

'90s will diversify even further. If the Finnish nation

votes 'yes' on accession to the European Union, we shall

work together as Union members on the basis of Nordic

values. The Union will then take on an increasingly northern weighting which will benefit the Union as a whole and Europe in general.

The European Union is also a geographical entity that brings Member States in the Mediterranean region closer to those in the North. Its various geographical regions supplement each other rather than compete among themselves.

This summer was an important time for northern nations in

many respects. The withdrawal of Russian troops from

Estonia and Latvia could be said to have ended the Second

World War in the Baltic Sea region. The leaders of Russia and the Baltic countries deserve undivided acknowledgement from us all for achieving this breakthrough. The dead weight of history proved heavy, but not overwhelming.

In a way, the agreement thus reached symbolizes recent

trends in security policy in Northern Europe. The transition has now been made from intimidation to a realistic solution of problems. This path must also be followed in future, for it will benefit all the states in the region.

Geographically, the Baltic Sea region is becoming a unifying factor. Denmark has made an important - even crucial - contribution to progress in Baltic Sea cooperation. In many respects, the economic progress already made by the Baltic countries has been achieved with help from their Nordic neighbours.

The Baltic Sea region also includes Kaliningrad, formerly

Königsberg, and the metropolis of St Petersburg. Care must

be taken to ensure that these areas become integral elements in Baltic Sea cooperation.

Understandably, there are very different views about

developments in Russia. That is doubtless true of my present audience. What happens in Russia is a key security issue for the rest of Europe, too. It is not just a question of the course that Russia itself adopts, but of the development of the international community as a whole, in which Russia, the European Union, the rising economic giants of Asia, and the United States are the main centres of influence and economic power.

Russia is restoring its national, organic vitality and

consolidating the fundamental values of its society.

Although a healthy sense of national self-esteem is still

struggling with chauvinism, the most dangerous, experimental phase in the transition to a market economy is over and the first signs of macroeconomic recovery are visible.

In any case, Russia is devolving into regions and building

more truly federative political structures. This process

seems inevitable, because the country's present organs of

government have been democratically elected and support the

trend. Russia has been through some hard times, however,

and its problems cannot be solved overnight.

Russia is an increasingly active collaboration partner both

for the world's leading industrial countries and for the

European Union. Finland's relations with Russia are

advancing well on all fronts. I feel sure that this will

also make for greater depth in relations between Russia and the European Union, if Finland becomes a Union member.

Since the end of the division of the Cold War, we have been involved in a tremendous process of change both as states and as communities of states. As I outlined earlier, what one could call a new world order of several power centres is emerging. During this decade, we must regulate economic and political competition between these centres to ensure that it becomes a source of cooperation, not of power politics. The EU is an effective and increasingly powerful instrument for influencing this process.

Even small countries cannot evade their responsibilities in

this new situation. If they want to succeed, safeguard

their interests amid change, and influence the course of

events, they cannot be isolated, but must be involved in

integration. In fact, it would be by estranging themselves

from the integration process that they would more easily

fall prey to power politics.

Enlargement of the European Union is thus a key factor in

the security of the continent. An expanding Union will

create stability, and offer hope that European security will remain a stable and lasting state of affairs in the long term. Once the present round of enlargement is over, the European Union should strive to go on expanding. If the process of enlargement comes to a halt, Europe could well be divided in two again. This would create fresh uncertainty on the continent and also here in the North.

Europe's new security arrangements are taking shape. We are seeking a solution based on cooperation to replace

unilateral military buildup and the threat of force. The

European Union has the chance to work out a comprehensive

security policy that will benefit the whole continent.

Progress must be made gradually, but with clear aims and

open debate. All countries must join in this debate.

The '90s, however, are a time for strong diplomatic efforts

and the management of new types of military conflict. Because the international community lacked the necessary readiness, the war in the former Yugoslavia has expanded into a devastating tragedy. We must increase our readiness in every way possible to deal with this challenge. Within the CSCE, this objective has been given valuable and lasting expression and we must work jointly to develop it further.

Security is increasingly tied up with democracy, the state

of the environment and economic liberty. The EU's

responsibility will grow as the common security of the

continent is reinforced. A strong economy is an integral

element in safeguarding Europe's standing within global

change, and in its ability to extend stability into the eastern parts of the continent.

The EU must be able to preserve the confidence of citizens

of its Member States. This is a vital precondition for its

future vitality. In fact, people seem to know rather little about the Union's basic objectives and the reasons for its existence. After all, perhaps, the EU today is too much a mere community of experts.

It is obvious that the Nordic countries must be able

to provide elements to help the Union develop more into a

community of citizens.

The 20th century is drawing to a close. For a long time,

wars trampled over our finest dreams here in Europe. Now,

we have enjoyed half a century of peace, though its

foundations have often been uneasy and unjust. But a new

era is already dawning. The foundations for peace are

becoming stronger and justice has made gains throughout the

continent. Small countries are no longer pawns in a

great-power game, but through cooperation have won a permanent place at the tables where the future of our continent will be decided.

The Nordic countries understand very well the value of

cooperation and close interaction. Now we must work to

ensure that the Nordic community constitutes a lasting model for European interaction.