Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the working lunch of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) in Bucharest, 3 April 2008

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This meeting is valuable in bringing together NATO members and their partners. We need to address the security challenges in close partnership. We need to step up our efforts to combat new threats. Challenges such as climate change are risk multipliers.
We need to work for international crisis management with a broad concept of security. A comprehensive approach should be pursued, combining civilian and military tools.

Finland has participated in peace keeping activities for decades. We will continue to do so also in the future as we do today in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Chad. Through the EAPC partnership Finland can further develop her capabilities and be better prepared for future operations.

In crisis management the European Union and NATO are complementary – not competing – actors. When they operate in the same area, they need to work closely together in order to achieve lasting results. Lack of cooperation might put civilian and military personnel unnecessarily in danger. Kosovo and Afghanistan are current examples. The two organizations should also work to improve their political dialogue.

Partnership between different international and regional organizations is also needed. The OSCE and NATO share the objective of a more secure and democratic Europe. I would like to convince you that conflict prevention and crisis management lie in the core of the Finnish OSCE chairmanship, creating a link also to NATO’s activities, work against human trafficking as an example.

This Partnership Council made a commendable decision four years ago in Istanbul, adopting a “zero tolerance” policy concerning human trafficking. We need to ensure the effective implementation.

Another timely issue for us to join forces is implementing the UN Security Council resolution 1325 “Women, peace and security”. Women’s involvement in crisis management and post-conflict reconstruction makes operations more effective and contributes to lasting results. NATO has rightly taken an active role in the implementation of this resolution. Many thanks and encouragement for our joint efforts.