Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at a dinner hosted by President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gasparovic in Bratislava on 19 April 2005

First of all let me say how glad I am to be able to visit Slovakia. I wish to thank my colleague and old friend from the Council of Europe, President Gasparovic, Mrs Gasparovicova, Prime Minister Dzurinda, Deputy Speaker Veteska and the other people I have met for their very warm reception. I consider it a great honour to have this chance to be the first Finnish President to visit Slovakia.

As you know, Mr President, I have followed Slovakia's development with interest throughout its independence. As a Member of Parliament and a delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe I served as a rapporteur on your application for membership. I also visited your beautiful country as Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, but that was nearly eight years ago. It was extremely interesting to come back. So many things have changed in both our countries as well as in Europe and the world at large. Peace, stability, democracy and the rule of law have become firmly rooted in Europe.

I want to congratulate Slovakia particularly on its success in the nation's internal development and also in its relations with other countries. You have met this double challenge very well and in quite a short time. You have joined the EU and NATO, your economy has developed at a record pace and your social development has been in a positive direction in many respects. You have carried out many things you hardly dared to dream of a couple of decades ago.

Our nations' histories and destinies bear similarities that have taught us how to survive and have strengthened our national identity and desire for independence. These are things that also provide a good foundation for meeting global challenges.

Perhaps for the same reasons we have adopted similar roles as mediators in international politics. The 30th anniversary of the decisive stage of the CSCE is coming up shortly. A month ago Slovakia hosted a meeting between Presidents Bush and Putin. These two examples show that even small countries like ours can play a significant role in today's world and in promoting international cooperation.

Together we are now building up the European Union to make it a credible international actor. The EU views Russia as a strategic partner with which we wish to engage in broad and comprehensive cooperation. Russia is an important influence both regionally and globally. The EU-Russia summit in May will allow us to deepen relations. I am optimistic that talks on developing the "four spaces" will be brought to a positive conclusion.

The European Union and the United States are naturally partners in many international affairs. Our interdependence is considerable in both the security and the economic fields. There was a strong spirit of cooperation at the EU-USA summit in February. The positive atmosphere on this occasion created a good basis for improving transatlantic relations.

The EU must be a credible and dynamic actor in the global world. This includes developing relations not only with Asia and Africa but with Latin America as well. I particularly hope that cooperation will be successful with regard to both the UN’s Millennium Objectives and the reform that faces this world-wide organization.

The need to work together is increasingly obvious in today's international cooperation. We are glad to have Slovakia as a full member of the European family. This provides - and has already provided - larger opportunities for developing our countries' relations at the European and global level. We greatly value cooperation with Slovakia in the EU and international organizations.

Alongside multilateralism there is still a need for bilateral relations. They have played a vital part throughout our history - whether we look East or West. Official relations between Finland and Slovakia have developed favourably in recent years, and I am pleased about this. But I am sure we will agree that this is just a good beginning. In many fields, such as culture, trade, economic and technical cooperation, there are numerous opportunities that have so far remained untapped. Now that Finland has an embassy in Bratislava, we are in a better position to develop our cooperation. We know that Finnish companies are increasingly interested in Slovakia.

I hope that this visit will help boost our countries' relations and cooperation in different fields. Mr President, in this spirit allow me to propose a toast to you and the First Lady and to the development of cooperation relations between Slovakia and Finland!