Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Gala Dinner in New York on 14 October 2003

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New York and the New Yorkers have always represented something very special to the world. That tragic day September 11 set our hearts pulsing at the same tempo as yours. We Europeans have felt strong empathy with your struggle to make life triumph. Today one can again sense the strong pulse of life in New York.

The Nordic region has been regarded as a safe place. That is why we were all the more shocked when Sweden’s popular and respected Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, who was a personal friend of mine, fell victim to a murderer a month ago. Democracy includes openness, which we must all be prepared to defend without compromising our security.

Security is born of cooperation between people.

Scandinavia House serves as an excellent example of cooperation in several ways. The peoples of the Nordic region have always had a sense of affinity with each other and shared a common cultural and values foundation, in which a belief in democracy, human rights and the rule of law are central.

The birth and operations of Scandinavia House are also the result of cooperation between governments and private business corporations: they worked together to organise the funding.

In my view, there is a kinship between enterprise and creativity. In the final analysis, a company’s real success is based on its commitment to the product itself, be it an article of trade, a service or whatever.

In all interaction, which of course includes economic endeavour, we need common rules of the game. In a world of globalisation and increasing integration, this is all the more important. But people also need culture as a counterweight to work and enterprise. They need it as individuals and as part of their community. The world’s countless cultures are a wealth in their own right. At the same time, this wealth provides a starting point for innovation and economic development.

Scandinavia House also symbolises the Nordic countries’ traditionally strong ties to the New World. In the course of history, we have contributed to building this great country and we have also received many cultural influences from the United States. Interaction and cooperation are the reality today as well: the USA continues to need the rest of the world and the world needs the USA.

The arts and culture in Finland are the theme that Scandinavia House has chosen for this year. I am proud that there are many Finnish artists in New York. The Finnish quality products being displayed here this week include those of Annikki Karvinen, Kalevala Koru, Iittala and Marimekko. A lot of Finnish music is heard in New York. A new film about the life of Jean Sibelius is running right now and the SONOS Quartet is reciting Finnish music. Yesterday the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra performed works by some of the most famous Finnish composers at a magnificent concert in St. Barthelomew’s Church.

The most spectacular Finnish art event at Scandinavia House is undoubtedly The Snow Show exhibition. It relates to a major event in Finnish Lapland next winter, when several of the top names in contemporary art and architecture from various parts of the world will design installations using snow and ice. There is certainly no shortage of these materials in the Nordic region. From the point of view of today’s people, the end-result will be a perfect product: beautiful, exciting, groundbreaking, innovative. And it is like life itself – it lasts only a moment. Those great ice creations just melt away in the early spring sun!

To conclude, I want to thank everyone who is contributing to the work of the American-Scandinavian Foundation for their magnificent and important inputs to developing relations between the United States and the Nordic countries, and this evening especially those who have arranged this splendid event.