Mr Martti Ahtisaari

to the Parliament of Lithuania,

16 January 1996

I consider it a great honour to appear before the Seimas, the place where Lithuania's struggle for freedom was concentrated, where your restored independence was ceremoniously confirmed and where the core of political life in Lithuania is now located.

When I visited Vilnius nearly four years ago, the parliament building was surrounded by tank barriers and sandbags. They were more than a reminder of the recent past. Like the wooden crosses erected around your country in commemoration of sacrifices made at different times, they symbolised the Lithuanian people's centuries-old struggle for freedom.

I have just laid a wreath on the grave of the young Lithuanians who gave their lives during the events of January 1991. May the Almighty grant that Lithuania will never again need to bear those heavy sacrifices to the altar of her freedom.

The law of history has been upheld - Lithuania, together with the other Baltic States, is building her future as part of the free family of European peoples.

We are now witnessing completely new processes of development in the Baltic region. They pose new challenges, but also present us with new opportunities. It is possible that we in Finland have not fully grasped the depth of the change that has taken place, nor understood all of its effects.

Throughout her history, Finland has had close interaction in the economic, cultural and political spheres with the region along the south-eastern shore of the Baltic. We even shared a monarch with Lithuania at one stage in the 16th century, when we were part of the Kingdom of Sweden. Already in early historical times, Fenno-Ugrian and Baltic tribes lived in neighbourly interaction with each other. The Finnish language contains hundreds of loan words relating to central aspects of life and derived from the proto-Baltic language from which Lithuanian evolved. The Finnish words meaning "rye", "harrow", "sail", "bridge" and "night frost" are among hundreds of others that provide evidence of old links between our tribes. Further evidence of those long-standing links can be seen in the mutual influences that our folk music and folk poetry reveal. Our national instrument the kantele and the Lithuanian kanklai have shared roots. Our old cultural links were continued in the late 19th century, when our classical writer Maila Talvio and her scientist husband Jooseppi Julius Mikkola were kindling contacts with some of the leading figures working for Lithuanian independence. From Lithuania's brief period of independence in the inter-war years, we remember the Finnish scientist Robert Niemi's scientific and societal work in relation to your country.

Recent scientific studies indicate that the Finnish genetic inheritance comprises, in addition to its Germanic and Baltic-Finnish components, also Balt elements. Thus, whether you wish it or not, we are declaring ourselves to be your distant relatives.

Now we are again building those old links, which were violently severed by recent history. And we are doing so in new circumstances - in a European context.

Finland has been a member of the European Union for a year and the overall assessment at the end of that first period of reckoning must be that membership has been a positive thing. We focused realistic expectations on membership from the very beginning and have not been disappointed.

We have always been part of Europe and now that we are also formally within Europe we can take part in shaping our common future. We discuss and participate in decision-making on matters that affect us. As a small country, Finland has a relatively greater say in the Union than big countries and we do not feel that we have lost our independence. In our future work, for example at the forthcoming intergovernmental conference, we shall argue for the development of the Union as, specifically, an association of independent states, in which the interests of both big and small members are safeguarded.

Our agricultural sector was the biggest sufferer when we acceded to membership of the Union, and the mood among farmers was not bright. Now, however, the situation is settling down - we have embarked on long-term development of our agriculture to suit the new circumstances. I am convinced - and every Finn so wishes - that our rural areas will remain a living environment for economic and human activities.

By binding us through many kinds of ties to a political and economic association of European states sharing the same world of values as ourselves, membership of the European Union has its own significant bearing on security. Our security-policy solution is a multi-level one. Membership of the European Union and of the Council of Europe as well as activity within the OSCE and UN frameworks and in regional cooperation bodies are the central components of this solution. With our international actions we combine, as an important constituent factor, our national defence capability, which we maintain at a credible level. We regard NATO's role in Europe's security configuration as being of primary importance and have arranged our relations with the organisation through cooperation within the framework of the Partnership for Peace programme. We are taking part in the NATO operation in Bosnia. However, we are not considering new security-policy solutions in principle, because it is our view that our status of military non-alignment currently serves both our own and regional stability best.

We see the European Union as a key factor for the security and welfare of Europe and we have noticed with satisfaction that our membership has added to the Union's activity and interest in our immediate region within the Baltic sphere. Finland has supported Lithuania and the other Baltic States in their endeavours to achieve membership and it now gives us satisfaction that, through association agreements, all three countries have been brought within the scope of the Union's enlargement strategy. Our Parliament recently ratified the association agreement with Lithuania, as well as those with Estonia and Latvia.

What is essential now is to facilitate the enlargement strategy of the European Union. Finland is prepared to promote this process to the best of her ability through both international and bilateral actions. We have no ready recipes to offer you: every country must follow its own course. On the other hand, the problems to be solved are largely the same or similar, and the experience of someone who has earlier negotiated the same path could naturally be useful.

Our programmes of assistance to Lithuania have concentrated on cooperation in the environmental sector, agriculture and the development of public administration. Together with the other Nordic countries, we have tried to make a positive contribution to resolving the refugee issue here in Lithuania.

In the course of this visit, the question of bilateral economic cooperation - which I see as also serving the same end - has been centrally highlighted. We have much to offer: technology and know-how in the forestry, energy management, transport, telecommunications and many other sectors. In our trade with each other we see potential and opportunities.

We recall the enormous job that had to be done in our own country - and which has now to all intents and purposes been completed: harmonisation of our own laws, translation of thousands of directives and other documents into the Finnish language. We would be happy to tell you how we coped with that task.

We are likewise prepared to share with you our other experiences of drawing closer to the Union - both on a general level with respect to, for example, getting talks under way and in relation to the special issues involved in various sectors, such as agriculture. What we hope for from you is to hear your wishes and receive your signals - which we are ready to respond to.

We have considered it important to promote the strengthening of European structures in your country, and within the limits of possibility have striven to do so. An important body in that respect is based right here in this building: the Office of the Ombudsman, to the establishment and maintenance of which we have contributed. The ordinary citizen's faith that his or her rights are protected, which is what the work of the office is intended to ensure, is one of the fundamental characteristics of a democratic society.

I have tried to outline some features of the policies that guide our activities in the Baltic States, a European operating environment that has now opened up for us in a new way. We recognise the importance to us of the region - and of Lithuania as part of it - and the great potential for cooperation that it possesses, and we are prepared to intensify our efforts to realise that potential. With those thoughts we wish the parliament of Lithuania, its historical Seimas, the best of success in strengthening democracy in the country and in its international activities - in tending its relations with neighbours and in its European endeavours. We are prepared both to strengthen our bilateral links with Lithuania and to step up our shared European endeavours. We now extend to you across the Baltic a Finnish hand of sympathy, genuine friendship and cooperation.