AT A BANQUET HOSTED BY PRESIDENT VIGDIS FINNBOGADOTTIR
OF ICELAND IN REYKJAVIK ON 26.9.1995
I wish to express my thanks for all of the friendship and warmheartedness that President Vigdis has shown us in her address of welcome this evening. We have the feeling that we are among friends with a genuine interest in the sense of affinity characteristic of Iceland and Finland and of the peoples of both countries.
On my own behalf and my wife's, I would like to say how delighted we are at this event. We had the privilege to be here last year, when you celebrated the 50th anniversary of your independence in Tingvellir, which magnificently symbolises Iceland as a pioneering country in the development of democracy and popular power. We were able to witness the people on their way to their ancestors' meeting place to show respect for the traditions and continuity of the old moot venue.
Icelandic historians demonstrated very acute hearing when they committed the stories of their people to writing. The historian Snorri Sturluson is probably peerless in the latitudes where we live. He has had a strong influence on our perception of ancient times in Iceland. He and his contemporaries did not write just history, but also created the foundation of a powerful body of literature. That literary output is part of our shared cultural heritage. It is gratifying to see that we in Finland have in recent times succeeded in filling some of the gaps that existed in translations into our language of your most important sagas. The writer Antti Tuuri, who is among us this evening, recently completed his translation of Njál's Saga, having earlier translated another masterpiece, Egil's Saga, the story of Egill Skallagrímsson.
The language of the Icelandic sagas is evocative. In the Laxdaela Saga it describes "a noble man who does not reply to any more than he is asked." Such taciturnity does not seem alien to us Finns. We and the Icelanders have no difficulty understanding each other. Even the way in which our languages are pronounced sounds familiar.
This springs from the national identities of both peoples, identities rooted in the ancient North, and which have been shaped by geography, nature and history. There are not very many historical monuments in Iceland, but "every valley is a reminder of our history, every view of the wilderness symbolises our most secret feelings," as Halldór Kiljan Laxness wrote. To a very great extent, it is through Laxness' literary output that the Finns have been given a unique description of the vicissitudes of a nation's fate. His novel World Light prompted the young Finnish writer Pentti Saarikoski, then only 17, to make a trip to Iceland to see with his own eyes the world of Laxness, in which "fable and reality, poetry and misery intertwine." Deeply impressed by Iceland, the young Saarikoski wrote in his diary that "the people of Iceland have a future, because they have a past."
Many points of similarity can be seen in the historical development of our peoples over the past two centuries. The similarity between two of our 19th-century statesmen, Finland's Johan Wilhelm Snellman and Iceland's Jon Sigurdsson, is striking; both had an unfailing ability to interpret and promote a national awakening which would advance the development of the nation in both the cultural and the material sense. Finland and Iceland had similar objectives in those days - to have parliament convened, to get the country under the guidance of its own men, to achieve universal suffrage, so that the country could finally be declared independent.
Nordic cooperation has brought all of the Nordic countries closer to each other than could even have been imagined in those days. That is particularly true in the cases of Finland and Iceland. In spite of the geographical distance between the countries, we have discovered that we share several ideals. We believe in law as a guiding principle and consider our freedom inviolable. A feature that we Finns and Icelanders have in common is that we do not allow temporary economic setbacks to get us down, but instead - with similar gritty tenacity - tirelessly carry on working for our future.
What our Nordic identity means to all of us is that we support each other when the need arises. Broadly understood, our cultural heritage is just as strong a foundation for action as our natural resource endowment. Both are the pillars that support our society and prosperity.
Montesquieu noted that the conception of freedom then dominant in Europe was almost entirely of Nordic origin. I am convinced that all of the Nordic countries have made their own contributions to this. It gave us Finns strength also in difficult times and grew into an unyielding stance against violence. Our task now is to uphold this idea of freedom. The Nordic countries enjoy a natural credibility now that we are taking part in the development of Europe's future. We act openly and honestly and we are trusted.
The Nordic countries are no longer seen as the most remote corner of Europe. Economic cooperation has been a long-term process, which is still ongoing. It has already created considerably freer interaction in Europe. Finland has chosen membership of the European Union, which we regard as corresponding best to our national interests. For her part, Iceland has, along with Norway, opted to arrange her relations with the EU within the framework of the EEA treaty. We can always openly discuss any problems that crop up, and I believe that there are actually growing opportunities for economic interaction in new sectors as world trade opens up. It is, by the way, quite interesting to note that at the inaugural session of the Nordic Council in February 1953, the first contribution was made by the Icelandic member of parliament, and later Minister of Finance, Magnús Jónsson; he said that the Nordic countries should concentrate as much as possible on mutual trade and cooperate in selling their products on world markets. His idea reflected exceptional farsightedness in the then circumstances.
Through fishing, exploitation of geothermal energy and sound entrepreneurship, Iceland has created a modern welfare society. Fishing-industry-related technology and know-how developed in Iceland are beginning to be in demand in the world. Iceland's dependence on maritime resources and her need to keep them under her national control are understood in Finland. In the past, we were among the first countries to recognise the expansion of Iceland's territorial waters to their present extent. Iceland's efforts to safeguard the foundation of her national prosperity will continue to be accorded understanding in Finland.
On my own and my wife's behalf, I wish to thank you once again for the hearty reception and great hospitality that we have
been given. You are greatly respected in Finland, which you have often visited to promote our cultural relations. You have become recognised as a champion of the Nordic languages and through you awareness of fabulous Iceland has increased also in Finland.
I would like to propose a toast to you, honoured President, as well as to Iceland and its happy people.