Distinguished Dean and Heads of the Diplomatic Mission,

Excellencies

May I begin by expressing how happy I am to see you, Ambassador Bazing, in your capacity as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. I look forward very much to benefiting from your professional experience in strengthening my already good relations with the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Helsinki.

I would like to express my most sincere appreciation for your kind and encouraging words.

I have long been close to day-to-day diplomacy, and I hope to remain so. I am confident that my wife and I will be able to maintain good and cordial relations with all of you.

Excellencies

We are going through a turbulent and challenging era in world politics. The ideological division of our continent has ceased to exist, thus providing new opportunities for increasing cooperation between peoples and countries alike. Let us use this opportunity.

I am privileged to begin my work at the time when Finland enjoys an excellent international reputation. We do not have problems with any country, even if our opinions may differ in some issues. I am extremely grateful to my predecessors for their efforts in promoting the international status of Finland and in strengthening peace in Europe and in the world.

Finland wishes to maintain good and close relations with her neighbours and to actively participate in building a new Europe, a Europe of common values and common security.

The Government of Finland is in the process of completing negotiations aiming at membership of the European Union. For us Finns, membership would be a continuation of the long-standing policy.

I sincerely hope that we shall achieve a satisfactory outcome in the negotiations and that Finland, together with Austria, Norway and Sweden, will take their places as a full members in the Union at the beginning of 1995. The enlargement of the European Union constitutes the key to the strengthening of stability throughout the whole of Europe.

Excellencies

We live in a global village. A multipolar world order is emerging. The regions are finding a role as new centres of political and economic activity. We have to adjust ourselves to a new kind of world system, not merely consisting of nation-states, but of coalitions of states and identifiable regions.

As a consequence, we have to build a global security system for maintaining peace now and in the years to come. Most problems in international affairs can only be solved by strengthening cooperation between states and peoples alike. We need a stronger United Nations and new regional security arrangements. In these efforts, there are no small and no big countries. There are only cooperative or non-cooperative countries. My country wants to be a strong actor among the cooperative countries.

With these words, I wish you all success in your important work in promoting our bilateral relations and international peace and cooperation.