Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at a banquet hosted by President Ferenc Mádl in Budapest on 27.8.2002

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I would like to express my warm thanks for your invitation to make a state visit to Hungary. Already on this first day of the visit, my entire delegation has been able to feel the closeness and atmosphere typical of a meeting between good friends and kin. You have received us with dignity, but also with informality and warmth.

The natural disaster that has afflicted Europe in the past couple of weeks has caused severe consequences also in Hungary. Our thoughts are with the flood victims. At the same time, our determination to combat environmental catastrophes with effects reaching beyond national borders has strengthened even further.

In a Europe of changes, relations between Finland and Hungary have remained stable and good to an exemplary degree. The environment in which our bilateral relations are conducted will soon expand to include another dimension, the European Union. In our political relations we share a concern about factors that threaten the security of our continent and countries, and we are actively trying to find ways of preventing them. As for trade, the fear that Finland's membership of the EU would lead to our free-trade agreement being rescinded has proved groundless; our bilateral trade is continuing to grow strongly and is also becoming more balanced.

My predecessor made a state visit to Hungary seven years ago. Finland had only recently joined the EU, whilst Hungary had just submitted its membership application. We promised already then not only that we would support Hungary's application, but also that we would share our experience with you.

Now that Hungary has reached the final stretch of the accession process, I believe we can say that we kept our promise. However, support is not enough if the applicant country does not do its best to fulfil the preconditions for membership. Hungary has done excellent work in this respect and has remained consistently among the leading applicants. Therefore the principle that applicant countries should be individually assessed, which was confirmed at the Helsinki summit in 1999, is of central importance to Hungary.

It is no coincidence that in Finland Eurobarometer polls on EU enlargement have identified two countries as being more popular with the Finns than the others: Hungary and Estonia. Indeed, we are eagerly looking forward to our future cooperation with both countries in the EU context; indeed, there have already been light-hearted references to a "Finno-Ugrian bloc".

Nevertheless, our support for EU enlargement is not confined to Hungary and Estonia. We consider it important that the next wave brings ten new members into the Union.

When I spoke at the Eötvös Loránd University earlier today, I expressed concern at the growing activity of extremist movements in Europe. Democracy, respect for human rights and protecting the rights of minorities - like the Roma - are still not things that we can take for granted in our own continent. Extreme nationalism, and the intolerance and xenophobia often associated with it, pose an urgent challenge to European integration.

The past seven years have shown that a small country like Finland can, whilst preserving its own identity, work successfully as a member of the European family. Indeed, to our kin the Hungarians we have this to say: "Welcome to the family table, to resolve shared problems and draft plans that will enable us to build a better European home in the future!"

Alongside language, lively cultural exchange has been one of the cornerstones of the special relationship between our two countries. Both of us are proud of our own rich cultural heritage. Where cherishing and promoting it are concerned, European integration presents both a challenges and an opportunity.

Culture is part of a society. We need a new and fresh-minded approach to using the interaction between culture, science and the economy in a comprehensive way. In the Finnish discourse on this theme, it has been decided to make Hungary the focus of an interesting experimental project. It is an interactive cooperative network for Finnish culture, science, technology and business called FinnAgora, which is being established in Budapest. FinnAgora will mean new forms of cooperation not only within the state administration sector, but also between many other actors in society. It is our long-awaited answer to the Hungarian Institute of Science and Culture in Helsinki, whose new premises were recently inaugurated.

To me - as to so many other Finns - Hungary is a familiar country. I am speaking both for myself and for my husband and the entire delegation when I say that we have come here to meet many old friends, but also to establish many new ties of friendship. A hearty thanks for your invitation and the warmth of the reception that you have given us!

Let me propose a toast to your and your wife's good health as well as to the success of Hungary and its people as kin, friends and cooperation partners in a Europe of stability, democracy and peaceful development!