SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC MARTTI AHTISAARI
AT THE FIRST ORDINARY SESSION OF ULKOSUOMALAISPARLAMENTTI (FINNISH EXPATRIATE PARLIAMENT) AT THE HOUSE OF NOBILITY
IN HELSINKI ON 23.11.1998

It is a delight to speak to such a large and representative audience. Many of you have made long journeys to participate in the work of the first ordinary session of Ulkosuomalaisparlamentti. You are both an international audience and a very Finnish one. What unites all of you is a strong sense of affinity with Finland and Finnishness as well as a desire to have a say.


We are continually reaching new milestones in internationalisation. It will soon be four years since we joined the European Union. At the beginning of next year we shall be in the first wave of countries entering the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union; In fact, because of the time zone we are in we shall be the first by one hour. Our economy with its heavy dependence on exports is constantly spreading its networks abroad. Effective physical communications are shortening distances, and in many matters telecommunications are rendering them completely irrelevant.

People’s mobility is growing. It is becoming increasingly common for individual Finns to have contacts with the rest of the world and new cultures. Traffic flows in two directions: people leave Finland, and people come here. Our country, from which as recently as the 1970s there was mass emigration across the Baltic in search of work and a livelihood, has become one into which people immigrate. As in the other Western industrial countries, people settle here in the hope of building a better and more secure life in a new homeland.

You expatriates are a natural and visible part of an internationalising Finland. International migration by Finns is still considerable, but it has assumed a new form in recent decades. The volume of emigration of the traditional type is constantly dwindling. Yet the number of Finns living outside the borders of Finland is steadily growing. Nowadays more and more Finns are studying or working abroad for a few years. Many end up staying longer than they have originally planned.

Finland’s attitude to those who have gone out into the world has changed. Before the second world war, emigrants could sometimes be considered even unpatriotic. Now - as Finland internationalises and more of us spend time abroad - the importance of expatriate Finns to their native country and the benefits they bring it are recognised.

You Finns who live out in the world serve as ambassadors of your homeland and mediate an important, modern and up-to-date image of Finland. Your expatriate associations form an extensive network of organisations. The bodies that you have come here to represent are doing important work by strengthening Finnish roots and providing a social network for Finns living abroad, especially recent arrivals. Voluntarism, activity and cooperation have always been characteristics of work in the Finnish diaspora. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the valuable work that you are doing for Finnish culture and Finns who live abroad.

Ulkosuomalaisparlamentti provides you with an opportunity to keep concretely in touch with Finland. It is also a direct channel through which you can exert influence on your homeland in relation to matters of concern to you.

The Finland Society has over 70 years’ experience of dealing with the affairs of the diaspora. The Society observed that expatriate Finns needed a body of their own to look after their interests and make their voices more clearly heard. The popularity that Ulkosuomalaisparlamentti has won demonstrates that there is a need for this champion of interests.


Ulkosuomalaisparlamentti is a representative and open body, which in an organised and democratic manner conveys the hopes and views of expatriate Finns to the public authorities and the general public in this country. Many European countries, such as Italy, France and Switzerland, have bodies representing their expatriate citizens. In those countries representation of expatriates is linked to the state administrative authorities. In Finland, in accordance with our Nordic model of society, we have chosen an open structure founded on voluntary organisations. Thus also small societies representing expatriates can have a say. Our premise is that expatriate Finns themselves are the best experts when it comes to matters that concern them.

One does not need a Finnish passport to contribute to the work of Ulkosuomalaisparlamentti. Thus, for example, 400,000 Finnish-Swedes can be represented there. The same applies to our third- or fourth-generation American cousins as well as to the Ingrian Finns, who became victims of Stalin’s persecutions because of their Finnishness.

For the Finnish state authorities Ulkosuomalaisparlamentti is a useful and good cooperation partner in questions to do with expatriate Finns. Its resolutions are taken into account by the authorities as decisions that have been deliberated by a representative and expert body.

It will certainly adopt positions also on questions such as those relating to citizenship. I have often met people who find Finnish citizenship laws problematic. What is involved in such cases is the possibility of obtaining or keeping Finnish citizenship alongside that of another country or the possibility of spouses of Finns resident abroad becoming citizens of this country. I have drawn the attention of the relevant authorities to these problems so that they will be taken under examination next year when we in Finland begin, following a pan-Nordic timetable, drafting a comprehensive revision of our citizenship laws.

Emigration and remigration by Finns are still important questions. The number of expatriate Finns and their important role in making Finland well-known in the world as well as in bringing occupational skills together with language- and culture-related expertise to their internationalising homeland is considerable. The policy programme that the state authorities plan to draft in relation to expatriates should be accorded urgency. It is important that the programme give the framework within which expatriate-related affairs will be handled an official status, in addition to explicating and strengthening it. Here, expatriates’ own views must be taken into consideration. The programme could also include an exploration of the potential of expatriate networks and the benefits that they offer an internationalising Finland.

Where light and warmth are concerned, Helsinki in November may be a less pleasant place to visit than at other times of the year. For work and deep deliberation, however, this season provides an excellent environment. - I wish you a successful session.