President Halonen: Russia should be involved in Baltic Sea cooperation

"The Baltic Sea unites, it does not separate," President of the Republic Tarja Halonen emphasized at the fifth Presidential Forum on Tuesday, 11 March 2008. The theme of the forum was the state and future of the Baltic Sea. Economic growth in the Baltic Sea region has been strong, largely due to trade and investment. Tourism has been on the rise and cultural cooperation is constantly growing. Finland has a special interest in developing Baltic Sea cooperation, since over 80% of our foreign trade is shipped through the Baltic Sea. According to President Halonen, the success of Baltic Sea cooperation depends on international cooperation, in which it is also important for Russia to be involved. The Baltic Sea's significance for Russia has increased in recent years, as evidenced by the development of the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland as a foreign trade centre, the construction of the Nordstream gas pipeline and the rising strategic significance of St. Petersburg. Many of the environmental problems in the Baltic Sea cannot be resolved without Russia's assistance.

President Halonen opened the fifth Presidential Forum. Copyright © Office of the President of the Republic of Finland

"Getting Russia involved in cooperation requires special efforts in some situations, however. Since we share a common border we naturally have interests and opportunities in this regard," President Halonen said in her opening speech.

"Baltic Sea cooperation must be developed with everyone on the basis of equal partnership, whose purpose cannot be to make someone a scapegoat or to put someone in an isolated position, but to invite them to cooperate. It is also important for Russia to be taken into consideration properly in the Baltic Sea strategy that is being prepared in the European Union."

Need to improve maritime safety

President Halonen emphasized that commitments have already been made when it comes to cleaning up the Baltic and keeping it clean, and there is no excuse for procrastination. A key task is treating municipal wastewater and radically reducing nutrient pollution caused by agriculture.

The Presidential Forum had the Baltic Sea as its theme. Copyright © Office of the President of the Republic of Finland

Shipping in the Baltic Sea and particularly transports of oil and chemicals in the Gulf of Finland have increased, which means that maritime safety needs to be improved. "Improving maritime safety requires that all the countries in the Baltic Sea form a shared maritime traffic image. Above all this requires political will, since technical problems are easier to resolve," President Halonen said. It is also necessary to develop the maritime traffic control and monitoring system and to improve the capacity to fight oil spills as well as cooperation in rescue work.

Political commitment at the highest level is necessary to ensure the future of the Baltic Sea, according to President Halonen. There are already numerous cooperation mechanisms in the region, some of which work better and some not so well. Cooperation still needs to be developed and measures should be implemented better.

At the turn of the year President Halonen and Prime Minister Vanhanen sent all the heads of state and prime ministers in the Baltic Sea region a letter that drew attention to the state of the Baltic Sea and invited countries to join in cooperation. "Sweden will draw attention to Baltic Sea matters during its presidency of the EU, which Finland supports. It might be a good idea to arrange a Baltic Sea summit at the highest political level," President Halonen said.

Opening speeches at the Presidential Forum (in Finnish):
Ole Norrback (PDF, 48 KB)
Ilkka Herlin (PDF, 72 KB)
Anita Mäkinen (PDF, 4,6 MB)
Maimu Berg (PDF, 31 KB)

Video of the Presidential Forum on YLE Areena (in Finnish)