Speech by President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen at a banquet in honour of President Danilo Türk of Slovenia on 9 March 2010

(check against delivery)

It is a great pleasure for me and my husband to cordially welcome you, Mr President, and your spouse to Finland. This visit brings back warm memories of our own visit to Slovenia in the autumn of 2005.

Finland and Slovenia have much in common. Nature and sports are close to our peoples' hearts. With the Winter Olympics in Vancouver still fresh in our minds, it is good to note that winter sports are very popular in both countries. Activities such as outdoor winter swimming and Nordic walking have also found a growing number of friends in both Finland and Slovenia.

Relations between our countries are good and without problems. We value greatly the fact that Slovenia has had an embassy in Helsinki since 2009.

Our cooperation covers a large numbers of actors in the fields of culture, science and business. These connections and networks have resulted largely from the interest of artists, scientists and enterprises themselves. The book fair that is held annually in Ljubljana has also drawn attention to Finnish children's literature. Last year, an international animated film festival was arranged in Ljubljana with Finland as a special theme. A Marimekko exhibition also stimulated broad interest in your country.

Our trade has developed positively, particularly since Slovenia joined the European Union. Commercial relations are being strengthened and new fields of cooperation are actively being sought. We still have many opportunities to be used, for example, in forestry, food industry and technology fields. I believe that today's seminar will help to strengthen our economic relations.

Direct flights have increased Finnish tourism to Slovenia, whose natural beauty and cultural attractions appeal to more and more visitors. I hope that also a growing number of Slovenians will find Finland as a tourist destination.

* * *

In recent years, Slovenia has achieved many key foreign policy objectives. She has become a member of the European Union and NATO. In addition, your country has in a short time joined Schengen cooperation and adopted the euro. I warmly congratulate Slovenia on its successful foreign policy.

We appreciate Slovenia's efforts to build close relations with the Western Balkan countries. We consider it positive that, at the end of last year, the governments of Slovenia and Croatia agreed on an arbitration procedure to resolve their border dispute. Finland´s policy is that it supports the accession of Western Balkan countries to the EU when membership criteria are met.

The European Union is a useful cooperation forum for our countries. It is important to put the Lisbon Treaty into action as soon as possible. The Union now has a special opportunity to develop its external relations and become a strong global actor.

Finland's and Slovenia's activities in international organisations are based on shared values. We work for democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the EU and other international organisations.

Our countries are strong supporters of the United Nations. We want to develop the UN's capacity to act as it assumes increasingly demanding tasks. Slovenia is a candidate for a seat on the Security Council in 2012-13 and Finland in 2013-14.

Both Finland and Slovenia are actively involved in international crisis management and promote the respect of human rights. Cooperation among all the members of the UN is vital so that we can strengthen international peace and security and seek sustainable solutions for the global challenges that affect all of us.

President Türk,

Allow me to propose a toast to you and your spouse, to the success of the people of Slovenia and to good cooperation between our countries.